Ken Cassman is the Robert B. Daugherty Professor of Agronomy at the University of Nebraska, and was Chair of the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture from 1996-2004. His research and teaching have focused on ensuring local and global food security while conserving natural resources and protecting environmental quality for future generations. During his 33-year career as a systems agronomist, he has worked on nearly all of the world’s major cropping systems and is currently co-PI on developing the Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas. Cassman is co-author on the textbook, Crop Ecology and recipient of the 2012 President’s Award from the Crop Science Society of America. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.