It is with deep regret that the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Chelston W.D. Brathwaite, informs the community of the Americas of the passing of Dr. Jose E. Araujo, Director Emeritus of the Institute, in Brazil on September 7, 2008.

Dr. Araujo, a Brazilian national, joined IICA in December of 1965 as Head of Project in the Andean Region. He held a Doctorate in Agronomy from Cornell University in the United States. He was Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture from 1970 to 1982.

The following are some of the most important positions Dr. Araujo held during his successful professional career:

• Agricultural Engineer at the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil (1945)
• Professor of Agricultural Geology, Universidad Federal de Pelotas, Brazil (1946)
• Director de IICA-CIRA, IICA Office in Colombia (1965-1970)
• Director Emeritus, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, (1982-2008)

Dr. Araujo spearheaded and navigated the process of transforming the Institute, then a research and educational institution, into a technical cooperation institute of hemispheric scope. In this he acquitted himself with skill and diplomatic sensitivity. Under his administration, the Institute was recognized as having a hemispheric and humanistic projection.

Notable among his achievements were the signing of the new Convention on IICA and the General Plan adopted in 1970, key documents in the history of this Institute, in that they defined the Institute’s mission of supporting member countries’ efforts to stimulate and promote rural development as a means of achieving their overall development.

Other significant events during his tenure, were the entry of Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean countries into IICA, the creation of the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), based on an agreement between IICA and the Government of Costa Rica.

Also noteworthy are his efforts in creating the Agricultural Research Corporation of Brazil (EMBRAPA), which has contributed to building a new agriculture in Brazil and the Americas.

In May of 2005, the Executive Committee of IICA, which met in Ribeirao Preto, in Brazil, paid tribute to José Emilio Araujo, and recognizedthe many contributions made by this son of Brazil to the Institute and to agriculture in the Americas.

The audience, made up of delegates from 17 countries, ten of whom were Ministers of Agriculture, gave a standing ovation to Jose Emilio Araujo, who said an emotional thank you for the recognition.

Agriculture in the Americas has lost one of its most prominent leaders. We are left with his example and his inspiration to continue building IICA into an instrument for agricultural development, and one that seeks to promote prosperity in the rural communities of the Americas.