S. K. De Datta

S.K. De Datta serves as both Associate Vice President for International Affairs and Director of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development (OIRED) at Virginia Tech. As director of OIRED, De Datta manages a portfolio of $48 million in donor-funded grants, most of them from USAID. The programs run by these grants improve lives in developing countries by promoting economic development, sustainable natural resource management, and gender equity.

Before coming to Virginia Tech in 1991, De Datta was an agronomist and principal scientist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, a post he held for 27 years. During this time, De Datta's research in rice production contributed to the Green Revolution that helped Southeast Asia gain agricultural self-sufficiency.

De Datta has received many awards over his long career, including being named Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy; Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America; Fellow of the Indian Society of Soil Science; recipient of the Norman Borlaug Award for Outstanding Contribution to Agricultural Sciences and the Green Revolution in India; Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in India; Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America; recipient of the International Services in Agronomy, Soil Science and Crop Science Awards; and most recently, recipient of a Presidential Citation from the Philippines in recognition of his outstanding contributions to agricultural productivity in that country and the region. De Datta has graduated 77 master's and Ph.D. students. He has published 366 journal articles, technical bulletins, and other reports in the areas of soil science, soil and crop management, and weed science. He has served on many boards, societies, and committees.

De Datta holds a Ph.D. in soil science from the University of Hawaii, a master's degree in soil science and agricultural chemistry from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, and a bechelor's in agriculture from Banaras Hindu University in India. De Datta's current passion is assisting Virginia Tech in its mission of becoming a truly international university.