Edwin J. Wellhausen

Edwin J. Wellhausen was an important figure in the early years of the Green Revolution. He joined the Rockefeller Foundation's Mexican Agricultural Program in 1943, working as the geneticist in charge of corn breeding work and later, in the early 1950's, serving as the director of the Office of Special Studies. From 1959 to 1963, he was in charge of the Inter-American Corn Improvement Program. While in the early years, Wellhausen's work focused solely on breeding varieties of high-yielding corn for use in Latin America, the Inter-American Corn Improvement Program also looked into the potential for using germplasm gathered in Latin America in the Corn Belt of the United States. The Inter-American Corn Improvement Project ended in 1963 with the founding of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Rockefeller Foundation
 * Mexican Agricultural Program
 * Green Revolution