{"id":16145,"date":"2026-06-20T12:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:57:11","slug":"iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit"},"content":{"rendered":"\nDistinguished professor of soil sciences and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.iita.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IITA<\/a>\u00a0alumnus,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cfaes.osu.edu\/stories\/rattan-lal-our-soils-rock-star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr Rattan Lal<\/a>, has been awarded the Medal of Honor from the Men\u00e9ndez Pelayo International University [in Spanish:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.uimp.es\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo<\/a>\u00a0(UIMP)] in Santander, Spain. The award ceremony took place on 24 July and was attended by the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment, Luis Planas Puchades. The presentation was presided over by officials of the university including the rector Emilio Lora-Tamayo, the general secretary Miguel \u00c1ngel Casermeiro, and the deputy secretary general Guillermo D\u00edaz Pintos.\n<div id=\"attachment_3855\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 693px\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3855\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of Former IITA staff Dr Rattan Lal (left) receives medal from UIMP Rector Emilio Lora-Tamayo.\" width=\"693\" height=\"420\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3855\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3855\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former IITA staff Dr Rattan Lal (left) receives medal from UIMP Rector Emilio Lora-Tamayo.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nAccording to rector Lora-Tamayo in his address, the award honors \u201cyour outstanding academic merit, which comprises a long trajectory of defense of the environment and, more specifically, for the study of soil as a living body and a key element in terms of global change.\u201d Lora-Tamayo also expressed gratitude for being in a position to bestow the honor, stating that \u201cthe university feels very honored to deliver this medal.\u201d\n\nUIMP general secretary Casermeiro noted that Lal is \u201cundoubtedly one of the most cited authors in the field of soil science, if not the most, with more than 36,000 references,\u201d as he has authored and co-authored more than 2,200 articles, books and chapters and is considered a pioneer in the integration of public health in the sustainability of soils.\n\nWhile receiving the medal, Lal expressed his gratitude to UIMP and all students and teachers who have worked with him throughout his career. As part of his speech, Lal noted that, in the field of soil science, \u201cthe best thing is to combine modern science with what ancient cultures say about resources.\u201d\n\nLal, a Nobel Peace prize winner in 2007, is currently the director of the Carbon Capture and Handling Center,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cfaes.osu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.osu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Ohio State University<\/a>\u00a0in Columbus, Ohio.\n\nHe is also a part of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fao.org\/conservation-agriculture\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conservation Agriculture<\/a>\u00a0network of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fao.org\/home\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FAO<\/a>, which promotes optimized soil health practices and enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contributes to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Distinguished professor of soil sciences and IITA alumnus, Dr Rattan Lal, has been awarded the Medal of Honor from the Men\u00e9ndez Pelayo International University [in Spanish: Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo (UIMP)] in Santander, Spain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16146,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[1665],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[61],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[196],"class_list":["post-16145","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-iita-news-no-2447","location-nigeria","hub-western-africa","item-year-196"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit - IITA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit - IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Distinguished professor of soil sciences and IITA alumnus, Dr Rattan Lal, has been awarded the Medal of Honor from the Men\u00e9ndez Pelayo International University [in Spanish: Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo (UIMP)] in Santander, Spain.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T19:57:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"659\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IITA_CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit - IITA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T12:49:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-29T19:57:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg\",\"width\":659,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"width\":1788,\"height\":591,\"caption\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/IITA.CGIAR\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/IITA_CGIAR\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/iita\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/IITAPUBLISHING\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit - IITA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit - IITA","og_description":"Distinguished professor of soil sciences and IITA alumnus, Dr Rattan Lal, has been awarded the Medal of Honor from the Men\u00e9ndez Pelayo International University [in Spanish: Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo (UIMP)] in Santander, Spain.","og_url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/","og_site_name":"IITA","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","article_modified_time":"2026-06-29T19:57:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":659,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@IITA_CGIAR","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/","name":"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit - IITA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-20T12:49:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-29T19:57:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Former-IITA-staff-Dr-Rattan-Lal-left-receives-medal-from-UIMP-Rector-Emilio-Lora-Tamayo.jpg","width":659,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-alumnus-receives-medal-of-honor-for-academic-merit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"IITA alumnus receives Medal of Honor for academic merit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","name":"IITA","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iita.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization","name":"Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","width":1788,"height":591,"caption":"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","https:\/\/x.com\/IITA_CGIAR","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/iita","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IITAPUBLISHING"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25852,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16145\/revisions\/25852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=16145"}],"curies":[{"name":"bien jou\u00e9","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}