Howard-Yana Shapiro and Alfred Chuang to Co-Chair Advisory Board
We are excited to announce Alfred Chuang and Howard-Yana Shapiro have accepted roles as co-chairs of the UC Davis Grand Challenges External Advisory Board.
Chuang is the Founder and General Partner at Race Capital and sits on Chancellor May’s Board of Advisors. Recognized by Andreessen Horowitz as the “Silicon Valley CEO’s CEO,” Chuang has shown unmatched abilities to create and develop world-changing enterprises. As an accomplished entrepreneur and venture capitalist, he has displayed phenomenal skills in executing broad visions in highly competitive markets. As a Software Development Forum Visionary Award winner, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, UC Davis Outstanding Alumnus Award, and UC Davis Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal, Chuang’s deep understanding of how education can help change the world and how entrepreneurship can advance solutions to the world’s wicked problems will add exceptional insight and remarkable acumen to our developing board.
Shapiro has built an extraordinary career in sustainable agriculture and agroforestry systems, plant breeding, molecular biology and genetics during the past 50 years. He helped lead Mars, Incorporated as Chief Agricultural Officer for two decades, applying ethical production principles at a global scale and fostering the “unprecedented and uncommon collaboration” necessary for a sustainable future. A former Fulbright Scholar, Ford Foundation Fellow, winner of the National Endowment for the Humanities Award, and recipient of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction and Chancellor’s Lifetime Achievement in Innovation award, the Senior Fellow in the UC Davis Plant Sciences Department has dedicated much of his life to ending world hunger and malnutrition, founding both the African Orphan Crops Consortium and the African Plant Breeding Academy. Shapiro’s leadership will be invaluable as Grand Challenges engages the campus community and grows our partner networks to successfully tackle the world’s most pressing issues.
Welcome Alfred and Howard!
