- Effective April 15, 2025, he will succeed Dr. Robert Reiter who has decided to retire after 27 years with the company and 34 years in the industry
- Dr. Mike Graham has profound expertise in R&D and agriculture and is currently leading the Plant Breeding organization of the division
Bayer announced today that Dr. Mike Graham will become the new Head of Research Development (R&D) for Bayer's Crop Science division and serve as member of the Leadership Team. He will succeed Dr. Robert Reiter who has decided to retire after 27 years with the company and 34 years in the industry. In his current role, Mike Graham is leading the company's Plant Breeding organization and has profound expertise in R&D and agriculture. The change will become effective as of April 15, 2025.
Robert (Bob) Reiter joined the company in 1998. He helped revolutionize breeding through the use of genotypic selection and led the development of an industry-leading genotyping platform. Over the years, Bob Reiter has held various senior roles in R&D helping to further shape Bayer's industry-leading seed and trait capabilities. After serving as Head of Global Supply Chain, he became Head of R&D for the Crop Science division in 2018. Under his leadership, Bayer successfully advanced upcoming blockbuster products like the new herbicide Icafolin and the Preceon Smart Corn System which has the potential to revolutionize corn production going forward.
"Throughout his career, Bob has been a strong advocate for agricultural innovation. He has truly advanced and supported farmers' ability to produce more while saving natural resources at the same time. I want to express my sincere appreciation to Bob for his tremendous contribution and commitment to the company," said Rodrigo Santos, Member of the Board of Bayer AG and President of the company's Crop Science division. "I wish Bob all the best for his well-deserved retirement. He will be missed not only by the R&D organization, but by all Crop Science colleagues around the world."
Bob Reiter will actively support his successor in taking over his new responsibilities to ensure a smooth transition. Mike Graham joined the company in 1996. From his early days as a plant breeder, he has steadily advanced his career, taking on roles with increasing responsibility. Throughout this period, he has been deeply involved in the design and development of next-generation seed, traits and customer-focused solutions. Most recently, Mike Graham has led Bayer's global Plant Breeding organization, driving the advancement of the industry-leading breeding pipeline by reimagining breeding and technical methodologies as well as spearheading the digital evolution. He will be based in St. Louis, MO. The successor to Mike Graham as Plant Breeding Lead will be announced at a later point in time.
"I am really excited to work together with Mike as new Head of R&D. He will be contributing to our success with his deep industry knowledge, profound expertise in R&D, diverse experiences and his intimate understanding of what farmers really need. He has consistently demonstrated visionary ways in delivering new innovation to customers around the world," added Rodrigo Santos.
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, "Health for all, Hunger for none," the company's products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2024, the Group employed around 93,000 people and had sales of 46.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 6.2 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conformthem to future events or developments.
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