Real Academia de Ingeniería

Buscador

Apellidos

Nombre

MIEMBROS

Cursó sus estudios de Ingeniero Agrónomo en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (1969). Realizó el Master MSc. en riegos (1974) y el Doctorado Ph.D. en Ecología (1976), en la Universidad de California, Davis (EE.UU.).

Desde 1976 a 1982 fue Profesor del Departamento "Land, Air and Water Resources" de la Universidad de California, Davis (EE.UU.) y trabajó como especialista en Riegos y Aguas Superficiales en el Servicio de Extensión Cooperativa de esta Universidad. En 1982 regresa a España al obtener, por oposición, la Cátedra de Producción Vegetal de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos de la Universidad de Córdoba.

A partir de 1983 desempeña diversos cargos administrativos relacionados con la gestión de la investigación española. Primero, Coordinador de la Comisión de Ciencias Agrarias (1983-1985) y Director de Programas Especiales de la Comisión Asesora de Investigación Científica y Técnica (CAICYT) (1985-1987). En 1989 preside el Comité 6 (Ingenierías) de la Comisión Nacional Evaluadora de la Actividad Investigadora (CNEAI) del Profesorado Universitario. En 1991 es nombrado Presidente del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), cargo que desempeñará hasta que en 1992 pasa a ocupar la Secretaría de Estado de Universidades e Investigación del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, donde permanece hasta 1994. De 1995 a 2003 es Presidente de la Real Academia de Ingeniería de España, de la que previamente fue nombrado Académico Numerario. Simultáneamente, de 1995 a 1999, es Director del Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (CSIC). De 2000 a 2002 preside la Sociedad Europa de Agronomía. En 2005 es nombrado Director de la Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación Universitaria de la Junta de Andalucía.

Ha tenido una actividad notable en el ámbito internacional, habiendo sido Consultor de la Oficina de Evaluación de Tecnologías del Congreso de EE.UU., de la Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional de los EE.UU. y numerosas veces de la Organización de Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO). De 1998 a 2003 ha sido miembro del Consejo Científico del Grupo Consultivo de Investigación Agraria Internacional (TAC/CGIAR, Washington D.C.).

Sus trabajos de investigación versan sobre la ciencia e ingeniería del agua con relación a la agricultura y al ambiente, en temas tales como la adaptación de las plantas a la sequía, la conservación de agua y del suelo, la optimización de una cantidad limitada de agua de riego, el manejo sostenible de los recursos naturales, los modelos de programación de riegos, el riego deficitario y la eficiencia en el uso del agua en sistemas agrícolas, con énfasis en horticultura.

Ha publicado más de 170 artículos en revistas internacionales y capítulos de libros, incluidos dos en las monografías sobre riego de la American Society of Agronomy y de la American Society of Agricultural Engineers y ha dirigido 29 tesis doctorales.

Professor in the School of Agricultural anf Forestry Engineering, University of Córdoba, Spain, and Researcher at the Institute of Sustainable Agriculture, Scientific Research Council of Spain (IAS-CSIC). Since 2006, he is also Director of the Agency for Quality Assurance of the University System and Research of Andalucía, Spain.

He was trained as an agricultural engineer (University of Madrid, 1969; doctoral degree, 1977) and has an MSc degree (Irrigation, 1974) and a Ph. D. (Ecology, 1976) from the University of California, Davis. From 1976 to 1982 he was a Lecturer at the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, and Irrigation and Surface Water Specialist in Cooperative Extension, working on statewide extension programs on agricultural water management and conservation. In 1982 he returned to Spain as Professor at the University of Cordoba, Spain. Between 1983 and 1991, he had various advisory positions in the Ministry of Education and Science on different tasks related to the promotion of R&D. He run or participated in activities related to launching special programs in emerging scientific fields, the return of scientists from abroad, nationwide changes in study plans, and in a new system for evaluating research performance.   In 1991, he was appointed President of the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), the largest research organization of Spain. In 1992, he was promoted to Secretary of State for Universities and Research of the Government of Spain where he worked until September of 1994. From 1996-2000, he was Director of the Institute of Sustainable Agriculture (CSIC, Cordoba, Spain). In 1998, he was appointed member of the Technical Advisory Committee (Science Council) of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR, Washington, DC), until 2003. He was a member of the Life Sciences and Environment Committee of the European Science Foundation (1995-1998). He has been President of the European Society of Agronomy (2000-2002) and first President (1995-2003) of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain, of which he is a founding member. He is also a member of the Academia Europaea. He has been a consultant on water, agricultural and environmental issues for national and international agencies such, as the Office of Technology Assessment of the US Congress, USAID, World Bank and several UN agencies, primarily FAO. He has worked and has had advisory assignments in Kazakhstan, Korea, Morocco, Jamaica, Jordan, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Turkey, USA, and Uzbekistan, among others.

 His professional area of expertise is centred around water sciences and engineering in relation to agriculture and the environment,. Current research interests are focused on the relations between water use and food production and the sustainability of water-limited agriculture, and include topics such as crop productivity as affected by water, water management at different scales, agriculture-environment interactions, soil and water conservation, irrigation water management, deficit irrigation strategies for horticultural crops, and efficient use of limited water supplies in drought situations. He has taught graduate and post-graduate courses on crop ecophysiology, water management, agricultural systems, sustainable agriculture, irrigation, and crop ecology and has directed 32 doctoral theses. He has published over 180 papers in refereed journals and book chapters, including chapters in both the American Society of Agronomy and the American Society of Agricultural Engineering irrigation monographs, and over 200 publications on technical issues and reports.