Lincoln, Neb. —After nearly a decade leading the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, Peter McCornick announced he will step down as executive director in August 2025. He plans to transition to a full-time faculty role in UNL’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering.
Since August 2016, McCornick has led the institute in delivering on its vision of a water and food secure world, building its collaborations in Nebraska, the U.S., and around the world. DWFI has catalyzed on expertise from across the state to develop and apply innovative water management tools and practices for productive agriculture. The institute’s expertise in water management for smallholder agriculture led to USAID selecting DWFI to lead the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems. During McCornick’s tenure, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, DWFI and UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources established the joint Water, Climate and Health Program. The institute was also a founding member of the Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture, an international partnership hosted by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
Under McCornick’s leadership, DWFI has allocated more than $4 million to nearly 150 students working on water- and food-related research projects in Nebraska and beyond and leveraged the Robert B. Daugherty Foundation’s initial gift to extend the DWFI’s financial sustainability.
"It has been an incredible honor to lead the institute over the past nine years,” McCornick said. “I am immensely proud of the progress we and our partners have made toward a more water and food secure world and am confident DWFI and the University of Nebraska will continue to build on these successes well into the future."
“For nearly a decade, Dr. McCornick has provided thoughtful, collaborative and extremely effective leadership in an incredible diversity of water management and water security initiatves across Nebraska and around the world,” said Mike Boehm, NU Vice President and Harlan Vice Chancellor for IANR. “He will leave an indelible legacy on DWFI and the University of Nebraska.”
Prior to joining DWFI, McCornick was deputy director general of research at the International Water Management Institute. His international career has focused on interdisciplinary research and development programs on water, agriculture and the environment in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and the U.S. He earned his bachelors from the University of Newcastle, and his masters and doctorate from Colorado State University. McCornick is a member of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers and serving his second term on the Board of Governors of the World Water Council.
An international search will be launched soon for a new executive director.
