Peter McCornick awarded Sukup Global Food Security Award

The Sukup Global Food Security Award has been presented to Peter McCornick, PhD, executive director of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska.  

The annual award recognizes significant contributions to enhancing food security through innovative engineering or the application of engineering in the production and distribution of food, including the storage and handling of grains, oilseeds and other food products. 

McCornick leads the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute in its mission to achieve a water and food secure world, fostering partnerships and collaborations in Nebraska, across the United States and in key food-producing regions globally.  

He holds the Robert B. Daugherty Chair of Water for Food and is a tenured professor in the department of biosystems engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

With an international career spanning decades, McCornick has focused on the sustainable management of water resources, leading interdisciplinary research and development programs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and the United States.  

Before joining the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, he served as the deputy director general of research at the International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

McCornick earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Newcastle and his master’s and doctorate from Colorado State University. He is a licensed professional civil engineer in Colorado and a member of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers, Reston, Virginia.

Recently elected to the Board of Governors of the World Water Council, Marseille, France, he is also a member of the steering committee of the Water Scarcity in Agriculture initiative, organized by the Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome, Italy, of the United Nations, New York, New York. 

The award includes a trophy and a $1,000 prize check.