Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan
Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University, as well as an Adjunct
Professor of University of Iceland and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), India. He received
a B.S. from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India (1963); M.S. from Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi, India (1965); and Ph.D. from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
(1968). He served as Sr. Research Fellow with the University of Sydney, Australia (1968-69), Soil Physicist
at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria (1970-87), and Professor of Soil Science at OSU (1987 to date). He has
authored/co-authored over 1100 refereed journal articles and more than 575 book chapters, has written and
edited/co-edited more than 100 books. He was included in the Thomson Reuters list of the World’s Most
Influential Scientific Minds (2014-2016), and he is among Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers in
Agriculture (2014-2022). He was ranked #1 globally and in the U.S. among Agricultural Scientists (Plant
Scientists and Agronomists) of the world by Research.com (2023). He has received an Honoris Causa
degree from nine universities in Europe, USA and Asia; the Medal of Honor from UIMP, Santander, Spain
(2018); the Distinguished Service Medal of IUSS (2018); and is fellow of the five professional societies.
Dr. Lal has mentored 125 graduate students, 15 undergraduate honors students, and 188 visiting scholars
from around the world. He has also visited 102 countries. He was President of the World Association of
Soil and Water Conservation (1987-1990), International Soil and Tillage Research Organization (1988
1991), Soil Science Society of America (2006-2008), and the International Union of Soil Sciences (2017
2018). He is Chair in Soil Science and Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainability Issues for the Inter
American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). He was a member of the 2021 United Nations
Food Security Summit Science Committee and Action Tracks 1 & 3. He currently serves as a member of
the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) in the Department of Agriculture
and as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Strategic Environmental Research and Development
Program (SERDP) in the Department of Defense. Dr. Lal is laureate of the GCHERA World Agriculture
Prize (2018), Glinka World Soil Prize (2018), Japan Prize (2019), U.S. Awasthi IFFCO Prize (2019), Arrell
Global Food Innovation Award (2020), World Food Prize (2020), India’s Padma Shri Award (2021), and
the Mahatma Ghandi Award for Environmental Protection (2022).