Dr. Moctar Touré is currently President of the Senegalese National Academy of Sciences and Technics, and Vice President of ANSO. He is a founding member of the African Academy of Sciences and first-generation member of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). He earned his PhD in soil sciences and has consistently used his energy, talents, and scientific abilities to promote science-based sustainable agriculture development in Africa. He held leadership positions in several science-based institutions in Senegal, and abroad. For more than 32 years he has played a pioneering role in building national and regional scientific institutions across the African continent. In Senegal, he held several positions ranging from field scientist up to Director General of the National Agricultural Research Institute. At regional and international levels, he worked at the World Bank, holding several lead positions, including Executive Secretary of the Special Program for African Research, Lead Specialist for agriculture and land management and finally Team Leader for Land and Water Resources at the Global Environment Facility. He was instrumental in the establishment of regional agricultural research coordination bodies in West and Central, East Africa and Southern Africa. He was actively associated with the CGIAR, served on a dozen of Boards of Trustees of International Agricultural Research Centers. Since retiring from the World Bank in 2006, he has remained actively engaged in promoting the interface between science, policy, environment, and sustainable development.