Innovation Gateway staff surprised John Ingle, former associate vice-president for research at UGA, with a collective “thank you” and provided him with a token of their appreciation – engraved marble bookends – at an event celebrating his retirement in June. The University of Georgia and the state of Georgia continue to benefit from his contributions to the UGA Research Foundation over the last 27 years.

Where to begin with his contributions? Perhaps it is the more than $80 million in licensing revenue generated by plant cultivars developed at UGA that was made possible by his leadership. Perhaps it is the significant impact of his vision and that of Earl Elsner (Georgia Seed Development Commission) in creating a Cultivar Development Research Program (CDRP), which uses a portion of plant licensing revenues to provide a consistent source of research funding from which new plant cultivars are developed, licensed and made available for the public good. This research funding is extremely important, as plant breeders, compared to basic science researchers, have fewer sources of research funding for cultivar development. Since 1998, the CDRP, which is administered by the University of Georgia Research Foundation, has provided more than $17 million for vibrant plant breeding programs.

Ingle came to UGA in 1989 from AgriGenetics, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company in Wisconsin. He held a number of different UGA titles during his tenure at UGA: vice-president for research / arts & sciences; assistant and associate vice-president for research; director of the Industrial Interface Program and Biotechnology; director of plant licensing; and professor of biochemistry. He had held prominent positions in his native United Kingdom before coming to the U.S., including research professor at Edinburgh University and scientific advisor to the Agricultural Research Council. Ingle has been serving as a plant licensing consultant to Innovation Gateway, since 2007. Starting in July 2016, he will once again enjoy full-time retirement. On behalf of Innovation Gateway, UGA and the state of Georgia, we’d like to say “thank you” and “job well done.”