Hackett Professor elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences

On the first day of 2024, The University of Western Australia’s Hackett Professor Kadambot Siddique will join an exclusive group of esteemed scientists around the globe as a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Professor Siddique is Director of The UWA Institute of Agriculture and an internationally renowned agricultural scientist who has dedicated more than four decades to research, training, technology exchange and industry development.

TWAS President Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim said it was an honour to count Professor Siddique among their Fellows.

“Your election is a clear recognition of your outstanding contribution to science and its promotion in the developing world,” Professor Karim said.

Image: Professor Kadambot Siddique discussing dryland farming with a local farmer in the Loess Plateau of north-west China.

Professor Siddique is a highly cited researcher in the fields of Agricultural Science and Plant & Animal Science.

He has fostered research collaboration and trained postgraduate students from India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Iraq, Oman, Syria, Iran, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, Philippines, and several countries in Africa.

Professor Siddique also led and co-led numerous intentional projects funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Crawford Fund and United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

TWAS is an autonomous international organisation, founded in Italy in 1983 under the leadership of the late Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam of Pakistan.

TWAS membership comprises Fellows and Associate Fellows, who are drawn from the most distinguished scientists.

Image: King Saud University Professor Salem S. Alghamdi and Professor Kadambot Siddique with faba bean crops during a visit to Saudi Arabia in 2011.

Professor Siddique said he was humbled and grateful to be named a TWAS Fellow for his advancement of science in developing countries.

“I am extremely passionate about improving crop production in dryland environments, promoting sustainable agriculture and addressing global food and nutritional security,” he said.

“To be recognised by the TWAS for this work is indeed a significant honour.”

In September, Professor Siddique was named 2023 Scientist of the Year at the Western Australian Premier’s Science Awards.

He was also the UN FAO Special Ambassador for the International Year of the Pulses 2016 and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering.