100 Alumni of Influence

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Dr. Keith Downey, O.C.,BSA’50, MSc’52, DSC’94

Early in his career, Keith Downey was asked why he pursued agriculture as a career. He answered simply, “I hope to make a significant contribution to Canadian agriculture. Since then, his original expectations have been greatly exceeded. Applying new methodologies developed by his colleagues at the National Research Council, he has worked to breed-out the nutritionally undesirable compounds present in rapeseed oil and meal, which has set the standard for canola quality around the world. The result has been an expanding rural based canola processing industry, a strong export market, and a canola crop that now vies with wheat as Canadas most valuable grain crop.