Starting in July 2004, the University of California, Davis will host PIPRA. UC Davis provides an outstanding environment for the start-up of the new organization that will support the development and implementation of PIPRA's activities to facilitate access to agricultural innovations for humanitarian purposes and specialty crops.

Dr. Alan Bennett, currently Executive Director of the Office of Technology Transfer in the Office of the President of the University of California, will serve as the interim Executive Director of PIPRA for a one year period beginning in July 2004. He will be responsible for the organizational development of PIPRA.

UC Davis and Dr. Bennett were selected from an impressive set of proposals and applications submitted to a Request for Proposals and a Position Announcement issued by PIPRA in November 2003. For more information on the selection process, please contact Rex Raimond of Meridian Institute by phone (970-513-8340) or email (rraimond@merid.org).