In 2009, Stephen Kresovich became the Vice President for Research and Graduate Education at the University of South Carolina. He also is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Prior to his arrival in Columbia, Dr. Kresovich was a Professor in the Departments of Plant Breeding and Genetics and Plant Biology at Cornell University. Upon arriving at Cornell in 1998, Dr. Kresovich served as the Director of the Institute for Genomic Diversity, the Director of the Institute for Biotechnology and Life Sciences Technologies, and the Associate Vice Provost for Life Sciences (lifesciences.cornell.edu). In 2005, Dr. Kresovich became the Vice Provost for Life Sciences. In that position he was responsible for providing university-wide leadership for Cornell's New Life Sciences Initiative (the institution's largest academic undertaking in its history), including strategic planning, fundraising, hiring of faculty, planning for new buildings, developing shared core research facilities, and supporting educational and training activities based on Cornell's comprehensive investments in the life sciences. In 2007, Dr. Kresovich served temporarily as the Interim Vice Provost for Research with oversight and advocacy responsibilities for all of Cornell's research efforts.
Dr. Kresovich received his A.B. in biology from Washington and Jefferson College, M.S. in agronomy at Texas A&M University, and Ph.D. in crop physiology and genetics from The Ohio State University in 1982. Following graduation, he conducted research in crop breeding and biotechnology at Battelle Memorial Institute and Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty, he served for eleven years as Laboratory Director at two U.S. National Genetic Resources Program genebanks in New York (1987-93) then in Georgia (1993-98). Dr. Kresovich's internationally recognized research focuses on conservation genetics and improvement of crop plants including sorghum, maize, and sugar cane. Dr. Kresovich is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Crop Science Society of America.
From 1997-2007, he has served as the U.S. Agency for International Development's Scientific Liaison Officer for Genetic Resources Conservation for the U.N.-supported International Agricultural Research Centers. In 2001, Dr. Kresovich was appointed to the Executive Committee of the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute. In 2005, Dr. Kresovich chaired an Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) committee responsible for reviewing joint federal-state activities for managing crop genetic resources and providing a vision for future collaborations
