air-conditioned lounge. We came forthe movies screened in the ChandlerHall Auditorium and were greatlyappreciative of the gifts that we littlekids would get at Christmas time.The local people with whomwe interacted were so kind. AsHindus, we never really appreciatedChristianity or celebrated Christmasbefore coming to the Philippines. Westayed at the Gonzales Compoundoutside of IRRI and the landladywould knock on our door and offerus <strong>rice</strong> and different desserts. Sincemy mom is a vegetarian, our hostsmade a point of offering us manyvegetables and fruits that weregrowing in their gardens. We hadgreat appreciation for the localculture, which is so very warm andfriendly. I look back on this all withfond memories, enjoying it all.Excerpt from K.M. Palaniswamy’s Pioneer Interview:On IRRI’s fastidious but accommodating directorDuring my stay at IRRI, I had several occasionsto accompany Dr. Robert Chandler [IRRI directorgeneral, 1960-72] in and around the Institute. Iobserved that he had a keen interest in keepingthe IRRI grounds very clean and neat. Once, whenI was walking with him in the cafeteria, he saw acigarette butt on the floor. He bent down, picked itup, and carried it all the way to a waste bin. It wasvery surprising to see a person of his stature cleaning up the area. But it was amemorable lesson [teaching by example] for all of us watching.One very important event I remember was the moon landing by theAmerican astronauts on 20 July 1969. At that time, Dr. Chandler opened thelounge so all the staff from IRRI and the University of the Philippines at LosBaños could watch the landing on the TV. Everyone was silent and watched verykeenly. When the landing was over, we expressed our joy and happiness withsmiles all around. It was a great event in history that, thanks to Dr. Chandler’saccommodating forethought, we all had a chance to witness.JERBY AGUIHONA model for researchI returned to IRRI [in 2006] tolook into including the Institute asa model of successful agriculturalresearch outside the United Statesin a curricular development andinnovation project I’m working on[funded by the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture/Cooperative StateResearch, Education, and ExtensionService – International Scienceand Education Competitive GrantsProgram]. I hope to inspire youngstudents to become agriculturalscientists just as I once was yearsago by my IRRI experience.IRRI can truly be an educationalmodel to show that real-worldissues and problems can be solvedthrough science and research.Agriculture is the most basic ofprofessions that has touched the livesof people since time immemorial,since antiquity. That will continueand it is very important that wekeep the younger generation excitedabout agriculture and that theyconsider agriculture as a desirablecareer option. My effort here is toincorporate IRRI’s techniques in mycurriculum design and universityteaching. Many universities in theUnited States should be very excitedabout research that’s happeningoverseas and making studentsaware of it, as well as thinking aboutplaying an important collaborativerole in alleviating poverty throughscientific efforts in agriculture.A tribute to dadMy dad—my inspiration and rolemodel in my life—was very passionateabout <strong>rice</strong>. We both shared fervorfor the plant sciences. He enjoyedwatching farmers working in theirfields in the early morning. As Ihave been living outside of Indiafor a long time (in the United ArabEmirates since 1982 and the U.S.since 1994), I had not had <strong>much</strong> timewith him. So, I took advantage of oursummer 2006 excursion to IRRI.We went out for morning walksand watched the workers in theIRRI <strong>rice</strong> plots. His face wouldlight up immediately as he wouldsmell the air and start talking aboutthe importance of agriculture inthe human experience. During hisscholar days at IRRI and the nearbyUniversity of the Philippines at LosBaños, he studied under Dr. KwanchaiGomez, IRRI’s chief statistician [seeFigures, fake guns, and fund-raising,on pages 16-19 of Rice Today Vol. 7,No. 4]. So, it was no surprise that,even 35 years later, he was quick topoint out the importance of statisticalmethods in field experiments. Hecould immediately pick out an offtypein a plot and say how importantit is to rogue a plot [remove infectedor undesirable individuals froma pure population] that is beingused for producing good seed orobtaining good experimental results.Dad was a self-made manwho raised all his children to bescholars. He continued to learnand obtained his PhD. He heldseveral key positions as departmenthead of physical sciences at TamilNadu Agricultural University;professor of statistics at KhartoumUniversity, Sudan; and an expertwith the United Nations EconomicCommission for Western Asia in Iraq.Since retirement, he wasworking on a book, Guidelines for<strong>rice</strong> researchers in the estimation ofsome plant parameters. I contributedsome of the chapters and hope tocomplete it soon in his memory.He was in excellent health so hispassing, due to the road accident inCoimbatore, was all too sudden forany of us to grasp as being real.Go to www.irri.org/publications/today/Pioneer_Interviews.asp forthis and other Pioneer Interviewsas IRRI approaches its 50thanniversary in 2010.Rice Today January-March 2009 21
© Chris StowersRice 22 Today January-March 2009, Vol. 8, No. 1 Rice Today January-March 2009
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