Beat Keller has served as a member of the IWGSC leadership team since 2006 and a member of the Board of Directors since 2014. Throughout his tenure, he has provided continuous support for IWGSC efforts without regard to whether or not it would benefit him or his lab members. He was instrumental in gaining community-wide support for IWGSC efforts and in designing the strategic roadmaps that ultimately led to major successes for the consortium and the international community.

Beat Keller is Professor at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Research in his group focuses on the molecular identification and functional analysis of fungal disease resistance genes in wheat, mostly against the leaf rust and powdery mildew pathogens. Gene isolation in wheat has always required the best possible use of genomic resources. Thus, in Keller’s lab, the analysis of wheat genome structure and evolution has been a very active research topic for many years. Besides basic research, the group has a strong interest in translational work for wheat breeding