It is with great regret and sadness that we have to inform our readers that IITA’s former Director General Ermond H. Hartmans passed away on Wednesday, 2 April, 2014 in a hospital in Rome. This was communicated to IITA by his nephew, Arm and Evers. Dr Hartmans had served as the third DG of IITA, from 1980 to 1985.
Dr Hartmans was an inspirational leader at IITA and very passionate about building the capacity of the national agriculture research systems in Africa. “Gains in agricultural research cannot be done without the full cooperation of scientists in various national institutes”, he said. “This type of cooperation is crucial to the formulation of research methods and to the planning and implementing of joint efforts with IITA acting as a catalyst.”
Those IITA staff who were students and post docs when he was the Director General remember his great talents in motivating people to give their best to the Institute and to agricultural research. He always directed his attention to the IITA scientists, imploring them to be dedicated to their work and to major research discoveries that would be delivered to the farmers of Africa.
Dr Hartmans was known as an excellent trainer and teacher. “He would always organize a cocktail on the last day of group training courses,” remembers the IITA DDG of Partnerships and Capacity Development, Dr Ken Dashiell. “He would then give a passionate speech explaining that the students should use what they learned to strengthen their research institutes and conduct quality research that would lead to benefits for the farmers of their country. After his speech the cocktail would end around 8:00 pm and most of the IITA scientists, post docs, and students would be so inspired by his words that they would return to their offices and labs to continue working until late into the night.”
It was during his tenure that the “maize revolution” started with work on developing disease-resistant improved maize varieties, including high-yielding streak-resistant cultivars and hybrids. The success of this IITA research was recognized by the 1986 CGIAR King Baudouin Award for International Research. It was also during his time that IITA moved its soybean improvement research forward with its work on designing soybean for Africa, exp anding soybean growing areas, and promoting soybean utilization by women and children. Dr Hartmans had built upon the work of his predecessors on cassava, yam, sweetpotato, cocoyams, maize, rice, cowpea, soybean, lima bean, pigeon pea, winged bean, African yam bean, and velvet bean.
Dr Hartmans is survived by his second wife, Mrs Lundborg and three daughters. Preparations for his burial are currently taking place. His remains will be interred next to his first wife Thera Hartmans in Houthem-St. Gerlach, in the southern part of the Netherl ands, near Maastricht.
Dr Ermond H. Hartmans funeral take place on April 16 th. See funeral invitation.
View Tributes to Dr. Ermond Hartmans
About IITA www.iita.org
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
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