First general meeting 2009 of Mexican national staff with Tom Lumpkin

With a full-house in the auditorium at El Batán, on Wednesday 25 February 2009, Director General Tom Lumpkin addressed Mexican national staff in person and via simultaneous Skype conference call also personnel of the 4 research stations – Agua Fría, Ciudad Obregón, Tlaltizapán, and Toluca.

Among other things, he took advantage of the occasion to introduce Scott Ferguson, new Deputy Director General for Support Services, who spoke briefly about changes he would like to bring about in the Center and its activities.

Talking in from Agua Fría, station superintendent Raymundo López provided input on several topics, including partnerships with Mexican state governments. María Teresa Rodríguez, of the Global Wheat Program and speaking in her capacity as representative of the Grupo de Representación de Personal Nacional (GRPN), summarized and responded to 10 questions that staff had sent to the DGs office and the GRPN for the occasion.

There were thoughtful comments and criticisms from others of staff attending. The GRPN will soon circulate minutes of the meetings, and a full audio recording of the event is on the Intranet in the right bar under the title “Messages from the DG.”