Robert E. Evenson is Professor of Economics at Yale University. He began his career as a farmer in southern Minnesota, then earned an M.Sc. in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota, followed by a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. He joined the Yale faculty in 1969, and is the author or co-author of hundreds of scientific papers on agricultural productivity and economic growth in low-income countries. From 1997 to 2000 he was Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. His most recent book, Crop Variety Improvement and Its Effect on Productivity: The Impact of International Agricultural Research, is the definitive study of the role of the "green revolution" in reducing poverty in developing countries.