Farewell, Dr Juliano

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Dr Bienvenido Juliano used to lead the lab where I work in when it was still called the Cereal Chemistry Lab. I didn't have the honour to be mentored by Dr Juliano, who was a National Scientist and was in the first elite group of scientists who set the direction for the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Though he was no longer in IRRI (he had left before I started in the Grain Quality and Nutrition Centre), he continued to be an influential scientist in the field of cereal chemistry. He used to ask formidable questions in seminars tackling rice chemistry issues; his challenges normally drawn from 32 years of research in IRRI. Listening to him talk made me realise how little I know in the field... humbling occasions, definitely.

He was the rice grain quality expert in the Philippines. Anybody else claiming that title has yet to match his level of knowledge and experience... or is bordering on quixotic.

And now, Dr Juliano is gone. He passed away this week, leaving behind a rich body of knowledge about cereal chemistry. He was a giant on whose shoulders the younger breed of cereal chemists stand on. 

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