Outstanding Technical Achievement - Industry

With a last name like Verde, Spanish for Green, it’s no surprise that Dr. Luis A. Verde Chifflet found a career in the agricultural sciences.

As Research Director and Latin American R&D Commercial Zone Lead for Corteva Agriscience, Dr. Verde is an extraordinary scientist, business leader, mentor and colleague whose contributions to Latin American agriculture and society have been nothing short of profound.

Born in Uruguay, but raised in a small farming community in Argentina, Dr. Verde knew at a very young age that he wanted to improve the lives of Latin American farmers and communities. With both of his parents working in animal science for Argentina’s National Institute of Agriculture Technology, he was always surrounded by an agricultural lifestyle.

After earning a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering at the National University of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires, he earned both his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in plant breeding from Iowa State University.  After joining the predecessor company to Corteva Agriscience, he proceeded to become one of the most prolific and successful corn breeders in the history of the company.

Dr. Verde is the inventor of over 90 patents, one of which is for a corn hybrid that currently holds the world-record yield and has had a significant impact on the economic wellbeing of farmers throughout the U.S. and the Americas.

His groundbreaking work and tireless commitment — guided by a deep inner drive to improve lives through better science, technology and innovation — has earned Dr. Verde numerous honors, including the 2019 Plant Breeding Impact Award by the National Association of Plant Breeders.

If you were to add up the total acres of farmland planted with hybrid seeds he and his team developed, it would equal the entire corn acreage planted in any one year in the US—over 90 Million acres of corn.

Away from the office, Dr. Verde is involved in mentoring programs for youth in STEM education and other disciplines and has worked with Latin American youth groups like Al Exito to instill leadership qualities in young people. He was instrumental in developing Corteva’s Latin American Network after helping launch an Argentinian-Uruguayan Student Association at Iowa State University, where he served as president.

He remains active in those groups as well as an internship program he started at the Dallas Center Station for Latin American college students who aspired to build careers in plant science. Many of the students that Dr. Verde mentored through past internships are now employed by Corteva Agriscience.

Additionally, along with his wife, Roxana, and his two teenaged daughters, Victoria and Olivia, Dr. Verde is active in Meals From the Heartland, a group dedicated to helping feed families and individuals in need, as well as with the United Way of Central Iowa.