Summary : An update from the Director General Reputation and people—these are the two most important basics of any organization such as IRRI. Our reputation integrates our mission, our science, and our impact. Our people make it all happen. Reputation-wise, IRRI’s position as the flagship center of the global agricultural research system is well established. The developed and developing worlds recognize us as a leader in scientific innovation that results directly into measurable impact. For example, the value of our longterm germplasm improvement efforts was validated in 2011 by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and in a study released in January 2012 by Mywish Maredia of Michigan State University and our own impact assessment specialist David Raitzer. In its landmark study, ACIAR calculated that the annual benefits to the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia averaged US$1.46 billion per year across the three countries from 1985 to 2009. Indeed, if my math is correct, the annual impact of IRRI’s research in these three countries alone exceeds the Institute’s total budget since it was founded 52 years ago!