Wes Jackson. Wes Jackson (born 1936) is the founder and current president of The Land Institute. He is also a member of the World Future Council. Early life and education[edit] Jackson was born and raised on a farm near Topeka, Kansas. After earning a BA in biology from Kansas Wesleyan University, an MA in botany from the University of Kansas, and a PhD in genetics from North Carolina State University, Wes Jackson established and served as chair of one of the United States' first environmental studies programs at California State University, Sacramento. Jackson then chose to leave academia, returning to his native Kansas, where he founded a non-profit organization, The Land Institute, in 1976.
Work with The Land Institute[edit] The Land Institute has explored alternatives in appropriate technology, environmental ethics, and education, but a research program in sustainable agriculture eventually became central to its work. Current and future work[edit] Author[edit] Works[edit] Selected Bibliography. Wes Jackson. 35 Who Made a Difference: Wes Jackson | People & Places. We Can Now solve the 10,000 Year Old Problem of Agriculture: Wes Jackson at TEDxOverlandPark.