Marianne Bänziger obtained her PhD in crop physiology from the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich Switzerland in 1992. She joined CIMMYT as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, before she moved to Zimbabwe in 1996 where her research focused on the development of stress tolerant maize for Africa. During her career, first in science then in management, she continued to promote cutting edge breeding approaches, most recently by helping to convene CGIAR’s Excellence in Breeding Platform. She has published over 50 articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed international journals and books.