Acta Horticulturae

on Asian Plants in 2002. Dr. Lee has been deeply
involved in the recent efforts to launch the
Asian Society for Horticultural Science (AsSHS)
hopefully under the auspices of the ISHS and
has been maintaining close relationship with
responsible scientists in some East Asian countries,
especially China, Japan, Indonesia,
Taiwan, Thailand, and some other countries.
Horticulture is now booming in many Asian
countries where more than 60% of the world
population resides. As the President of the 27th
International Horticultural Congress of the
ISHS, he has been very successful in holding
two important events together in ISHS history,
the Congress and the Exhibition. One of his primary
efforts will be focused on expansion of
both country and individual membership especially
in Asian countries. He will continue to
introduce and develop horticultural technologies
in Asia and will stimulate new and active
ISHS symposia in the coming years in this region
of the world.
PROF. DR. ANTÓNIO A.
MONTEIRO, PRESIDENT OF
IHC2010
António A. Monteiro was born in 1951 at
Batalha, Portugal, graduated in Agriculture in
1975, obtained the Ph.D on Horticultural
Sciences in 1983, and is presently Full Professor
at Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Technical
University of Lisbon, Portugal.
His present professional activity includes teaching
vegetable and ornamental crops production
at the Technical University of Lisbon,
research on vegetable breeding and growing
techniques, and an active involvement in R&D
with the horticulture industry. His research interests
have included in the past tomato fruit-setting
in non-heated greenhouses, greenhouse
ventilation to reduce fungi diseases, characterization
and study of protected cultivation in
mild-winter climates, and vegetable production
in general. Presently he is involved in brassica
breeding with emphasis on the study of the
Portuguese cole and turnip landraces, and on
resistance to fungi pathogens. He supervised 10
Ph.D students.
Professor Monteiro was visiting assistant professor
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
(1987), consultant on protected cultivation for
the FAO (1996-91), President of the Portuguese
António A. Monteiro
Horticulture Association (1988-92), Director of
the Department of Vegetable and Ornamental
Crops (1988-92) and National Co-ordinator for
R&D in Horticulture (1995-96) at the National
Institute for Agrarian Research, and Chairman
of the Department of Crop and Animal Science
(1992-94) at the College of Agriculture and
Forestry (Techn. Univ. of Lisbon). He was chairman
of the ISHS Working Group on Protected
Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates (1986-94)
and Board member (1994-02). Professor
Monteiro is member of the ISHS since 1980,
Council member since 1990 and ISHS Honorary
Member since 2002. He is also Honorary
Member of the Spanish Society for Horticultural
Sciences and of the Portuguese Horticultural
Association.
Presently he became ex-officio ISHS Board
member since he is Co-President of the
28thIHC, Lisboa, 2010.
ING. JOZEF VAN ASSCHE,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jozef Van Assche was born in Leuven, Belgium,
in 1960 and received his Master in Horticulture
in 1983 at the Faculty of Agriculture of the
University of Leuven. His thesis dealt with
‘Economical Aspects of In Vitro Culture’. He
continued as a research student at the
University of Foreign Studies in Osaka (Japan)
and at the University of Tokyo, Faculty of
Agriculture, from 1983 till 1985. He then
worked for ICI-UK ‘West Europe and Far East
Marketing Department’ from 1985 till 1986.
Van Assche became the executive manager of a
Beverages and Foods Group from 1987 till
1993. In 1993 he returned to the world of
science and joined the staff of the ISHS. He was
appointed Executive Director in 1995. He is
determined to bring horticultural science to the
benefit of all, including researchers in the developing
world, and together with the ISHS team
to serve the horticultural profession as a whole.
Jozef is a keen gardener and enjoys coming
home to his wife Mieke and his three children
Kerlijn, Laureen and Andreas.
Jozef Van Assche
CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 46 • NUMBER 3 • 2006 • 7