CRDC's Executive Director Dr Ian Taylor will be stepping down from his role at CRDC to join key cotton industry partner Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD) as their new CEO.
Ian has been an integral member of the CRDC team since September 2012, having originally joined as Development and Delivery Manager, where he helped establish CottonInfo - a partnership between CRDC, CSD and Cotton Australia. He then lead CRDC's research and development investment portfolio as General Manager, R&D Investment for five years, before becoming Executive Director in March 2019.
CRDC Chair Richard Haire has paid tribute to Ian's enormous contribution to CRDC over the past decade.
"Ian has played a critical role in delivering R&D impact for the benefit of Australia's cotton growers and the wider industry over the past 11 years, and we thank him for his tireless service to CRDC," Richard said.
"In particular, Ian has spent the last two years leading the development of CRDC's next five-year Strategic RD&E Plan, in close consultation with the wider industry. This new plan - which comes into effect on 1 July - is bold, ambitious and will chart a new course for CRDC and cotton research, and we thank Ian for delivering us to this vital point.
"Critically, Ian is not leaving the cotton industry - he is going to one of our valued research and collaboration partners, CSD. We already work closely with the CSD team, and having Ian at the helm will only continue to strengthen this partnership."
Ian will finish his term at CRDC in late August, before stepping into the CSD role in September. The CRDC Board will now begin recruiting for CRDC's next Executive Director.
