An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

90 History of the International Rice Research Institute1. visitors of state, such as monarchs, presidents, prime ministers, cabinetmembers, and others;2. high officials in foreign assistance organizations such as the UnitedNations agencies, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and foreignaid organizations in many of the developed countries;3. heads of other agricultural research institutions and their scientists; and4. tour groups (IRRI had become a regional attraction) and schoolchildren.The IRRI administrators did their best to take care of these visitors withminimum disturbance to the scientists. The director and associate directortook responsibility for showing the Institute to those in categories 1 and 2, anda Filipino was hired for the Office of Communication to handle the general tourgroups and schoolchildren. Category 3 people were usually interested invisiting with the scientists individually to learn about their research first hand.If so, a schedule was set up and they made the rounds of laboratories andoffices for a day or two.Almost every week, there were interesting and often distinguished peoplefrom abroad staying at IRRI for several days, usually at the guesthouse.Whenever possible, a dinner for such visitors was held at the director’s orassociate director’s residence, with staff couples present to add to the congenialityof the occasion and to give them a chance to meet with the honoreessocially. Staff members knew that they were not at all obliged to entertainvisitors but were certainly free to do so when they chose. This they didfrequently, particularly when the visitors were of their own nationality.The entertaining of important people was not without humorous incidents.In 1962, for instance, one of the distinguished visitors was the President ofMexico, Adolfo Lopez Mateos, who, with a considerable entourage, spent afew hours at IRRI. During lunch I was seated beside one of the cabinetmembers in the President’s party. Because I had some facility in Spanish, westarted our conversation in that language. Wondering, however, whether hisEnglish might not be better than my Spanish, I asked, “Do you speak English?’’“A leetle,” he responded. Then, just to make conversation, I asked, “When didyou leave Mexico?” “I leeve there all my life,” was the reply. From this Iconcluded that my Spanish comprehension was better than his English and wecontinued our exchange in his native tongue.When the Board of Trustees convened, special efforts were made to takecare of them properly. Each trustee was met at the airport by a principal officerof IRRI, usually the director or associate director. A dinner was given at thedirector’s house (on occasion at the associate director’s as well), and a largerbanquet-type affair to which all senior staff and their wives were invited washeld at the Institute dining room. After-dinner speeches, kept short andaffable, always included remarks by the Board Chairman and frequently byanother trustee as well. On one occasion, I caused an outburst of mirth whenI unintentionally introduced General Romulo as “President of the Universityof New Hampshire” (rather than of the University of the Philippines)! My wifeprivately felt that this slip was less mortifying than hers had been when, inmaking one acquaintance known to another at an important Manila function,