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His maternal uncle helped him through college. He graduated from the Benguet State University (BSU, then Mountain
State Agricultural College) in 1973 with a BS in Agricultural Education. His first mentor was BSU Vice-President for
Planning and Development Saturnino Ocampo. His other mentors were Fortunato Battad, now President of
BSU; Santiago Obien, who became the Founding Director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and
built PhilRice into a world-class institution. ‘Battad made a good PR man, specialist at marketing, while Obien was
the kind of man who would show you the way, the person with technical knowledge, very focused. These two are
honest men,’ he says. ‘This association with stalwarts has given me the professional edge.’
He has always tried to inspire others to work with, not against each other. Team, not steam. Dar says:
I believe in group strength. I remember my father asking us to
help out in the household chores. There was division of labor. I
would have to feed the dogs in the evening and sometimes cut
grass before dusk (to be sold next day) while my sister would be
cooking. There was one message for all of us. You help one
another. Do the task assigned to you responsibly but at the same
time help one another. This hard training in the family imbued in
us a sense of oneness. It gave us the confidence that together
we could achieve something. Wherever I have served I have
always laid stress on the gains to be had from working as a
team, much more in a public institution. That is the work ethic
that I have tried to inculcate in ICRISAT. That’s the genesis of Team
ICRISAT.
So, the withering ICRISAT became a challenge to him.
‘I began wondering how to rekindle the enthusiasm of everyone.
My past experience made it easy for me, for I had in similar
situations created a Team Philippines and a Team Singapore.
The slogan served as a platform to unify an institution. All it
needed was a leader who could motivate.’
So, as a challenge, ICRISAT was
heaven-sent. This poor boy was
ready, willing and eager to soil
his hands for the poor in the
lands of poverty called the semiarid
tropics: 55 countries, 2
billion people, 50% poor, no
water, crops devastated by
insect pests, people ravaged by
disease (HIV/AIDS and malaria),
soils degraded, biodiversity
endangered.
So, as a challenge, ICRISAT was heaven-sent. This poor boy was ready, willing and eager to soil his hands for the
poor in the lands of poverty called the semi-arid tropics: 55 countries, 2 billion people, 50% poor, no water, crops
devastated by insect pests, people ravaged by disease (HIV/AIDS and malaria), soils degraded, biodiversity
endangered.
‘Now I call myself an international public servant who is determined to make a difference in the lives of the poor.
My personal mission is to serve with a heart the poor living in the drylands,’ Dar says. The team is necessary, so
you have Team ICRISAT. The team still needs a leader with a vision to make true and a mission to make it happen,
and ICRISAT has William Dar.
The Academe As Anti-Poor