Departmental administration of academic programs, extension, and research.
Dr. Julia Kornegay is Professor and Head of the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University. She has a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Biometry from Cornell University, and a M.S. in Plant Pathology and B.S. in Horticultural Science from North Carolina State University. She went to high school in Nairobi, Kenya.
Prior to coming to NC State in 2003, Dr. Kornegay served as Director of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden (1999-2003) and as Director of Research (1997-1999). Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is one of the world’s premier tropical botanical gardens with international research, horticulture, and educational programs in palm biology, plant systematics, tropical fruit crops, endangered species conservation, and graduate studies. She also served as Adjunct Professor at Florida International University and the University of Miami. During her tenure, the Fairchild’s programmatic activities and budgets increased over 30 percent.
From 1985 to 1997, Dr. Kornegay worked at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia as Leader of the Bean Program (1993-1996) and senior plant breeder. She was responsible for an international team of scientists based in six countries in Latin America and Africa, working to increase sustainable bean production and income for farmers and their communities in third world countries. She organized five regional research networks in Latin America and Africa and obtained $10 million from international donor agencies to support their activities. She also spearheaded the Seeds of Hope program in Africa in 1994 to help Rwanda recover its crop germplasm after the end of the civil war. In 1996, she was recognized by the regional bean program PROFRIZA and the national agricultural research programs of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia for her work in increasing bean production and research capacity in the Andean Region. Over 30 cultivars from her breeding program have been released in eight countries.
Dr. Kornegay has published widely in international scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, and she wrote a featured column in the Garden Views, the quarterly magazine of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. She was interviewed on Martha Stewart Living Television Program and was the featured scientist on the TV program THE NEW EXPLORERS, Episode: Super Seeds. She also conducted numerous radio and newspaper interviews, including Voice of America - All Things Considered.
Dr. Kornegay served as Treasurer for the Society for Economic. She was a member of the Board of Directors and Secretary of the American Association for Botanic Gardens and Arboretum. She has also served on numerous federal grant panels and national and international program reviews. She is married to Alfredo Escobar and they have two children. They continue to own and manage a farm in Colombia and grow tropical flowers for export.
