Louise Ottilie Fresco (born 11 February 1952) is a Dutch scientist and writer known for her work on globally
sustainable food production
A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that surround food. Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable agr ...
.
Career in academia
Fresco has been the President of the Wageningen University & Research Executive Board since 1 July 2014. She is a professor at
Wageningen University
Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...
and a corresponding member of Belgium's Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences.
Fresco is also a member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) since 2009, a foreign member of the French Academy of Agriculture, a non-resident member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry ( sv, Kungliga Skogs- och Lantbruksakademien), formerly the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture (''Kungl. Lantbruksakademien''), founded in 1813 at the initiative of Crown Prince Charles, is on ...
in Stockholm, a corresponding member of the
Real Academia de Ingeniería in Madrid, a member of the
Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities and a foreign member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Class of Natural Sciences in Brussels. She is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar of the Academy of Science South Africa.
Other activities
In May 2006, a British newspaper published Fresco's resignation letter as one of eight Assistant Directors-Generals of
FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
. In her letter, Fresco stated that "the Organization has been unable to adapt to a new era", that its "contribution and reputation have declined steadily" and "its leadership has not proposed bold options to overcome this crisis".
As of April 2019 she is Independent Non-Executive Director of the Board of Directors of Syngenta, with special attention for scientific innovations for the purpose of healthy, sustainable food production. She is a member of the Trilateral Commission, member of the editorial board of the literary journal ''De Gids'', a member of the Council of Advisors of the World Food Prize and a member of the Council of Advisors of the Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food. She is also columnist at ''NRC Handelsblad'' and chair of the selectionboard of the Johannes van Dam Prize. She is also Board Member Foundation of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet Fund and member of the Ambassadors of the National Holocaust Museum (in development).
In 2020, Fresco was appointed by the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
’s Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by
Mario Monti.
Announcing the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development: Rethinking Policy Priorities in the light of Pandemics
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
, Regional Office for Europe, press release of August 11, 2020.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''Bambusa'' (1990)
* ''De kosmopolieten'' (2003)
* ''De tuin van de sultan van Rome'' (2005)
* ''De utopisten'' (2007)
* ''De Idealisten'' (2018)
* ''Hamburgers uit de moestuin''(2019)
* ''De Plantenjager (2021)
Non-fiction
* ''Schaduwdenkers & lichtzoekers'' (1998) (Huizingalezing)
* ''Nieuwe spijswetten: over voedsel en verantwoordelijkheid'' (2006)
* ''Het einde van de universiteit (volgens een rapport van de Universiteit van Oeloemia)'' (2007) (diesrede UvA)
* ''Hamburgers in het paradijs : voedsel in tijden van schaarste en overvloed'' (2012)
Academic
*
Cassava in shifting cultivation: a systems approach to agricultural technology development in Africa
'(1986) (thesis)
References
External links
website of Louise O. Fresco
List of publications of prof.dr.ir. L.O. Fresco in NARCIS
– The Duth National Academic Research and Collaborations Information System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresco, Louise
1952 births
Living people
People from Meppel
Dutch agronomists
Dutch women writers
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Wageningen University and Research alumni
Academic staff of Wageningen University and Research
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam
Unilever people
Dutch corporate directors
Women heads of universities and colleges