A Cornell scientist will serve as director of Mississippi State's new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute.

Dr. Alan Wood comes to MSU from Cornell University's Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, where his research included development of biologically based pest management strategies. He is a member of the Cornell Biotechnology Center, the Cornell Center for the Environment and the Cornell University Recombinant DNA committee. He assumes his duties at MSU this spring, pending state College Board approval.

"Dr. Wood brings national stature and an exceptional record of achievements to this critical leadership role," said Dr. Charles Lee, vice president for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. "He has been very successful in developing resources for research and in the application of new scientific breakthroughs to agriculture and industry."

The Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation and Mississippi Technology Inc. are partners with the university in establishing the biotechnology institute to increase economic development in Mississippi based on the biological sciences. The program will build on MSU's existing biotechnology strengths in plant genetic engineering, waste bioremediation, animal health, and pest and disease control, as well as promote new areas of research.

Wood has experience moving scientific discoveries from the university into broad commercial application. He is co-founder of AgriVirion Inc., which began as a company producing inexpensive, environmentally safe bioengineered pesticides.

Wood holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Middlebury College in Vermont and a master's and doctorate in virology from Purdue University.

Efforts to establish the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute were coordinated by MAFES with major contributions from the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the MSU Extension Service and the Forest and Wildlife Research Center.