New director of CGEE takes office and reinforces the Center's new institutional cycle.

Ascom/CGEE

A researcher with extensive academic and international experience assumes the directorship of the Center at a time of governance renewal and strategic strengthening of the institution.

Nova diretora do CGEE, Connie MacManus

Connie McManus took office this Wednesday (01) as the new director of the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE), after her name was approved by the organization's Board of Directors.

The arrival of the new director coincides with a period of renewal in the Center's governance. In March 2026, the CGEE began a new institutional cycle under the presidency of Anderson Gomes, who served on the Board between January 2024 and February 2026. The new composition also includes directors Geraldo Nunes and Caetano Penna, both reappointed for the next four-year term.

With a distinguished academic and scientific career, the new director is a full professor at the University of Brasília (UnB) and a CNPq research productivity fellow (level 1A). She holds a degree in Agricultural Science from University College Dublin (1987), a master's degree in Genetics and Animal Breeding from the University of Edinburgh (1988), and a doctorate from the University of Oxford (1991). She also completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Sydney , with a CAPES grant.

His work focuses on the areas of genetics and breeding of domestic animals, conservation of genetic resources, and landscape genetics. Throughout his career, he has accumulated a significant scientific output, with more than 520 articles published in specialized journals, in addition to book chapters and hundreds of papers presented at conferences. He has also supervised more than 200 students at different levels, including master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral studies.

With a strong international presence, it maintains collaborations with institutions such as the USDA (United States), the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa, and INRA in France. It has served as an evaluator of international initiatives, such as the MIT's Mission 2018 program, and was a member of the board of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria.

In Brazil, she had a prominent role in strategic bodies and agencies, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, FAPDF, and MCTI, where she was a full member of the National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (Concea). From 2016 to 2019, she was the Director of International Relations at Capes.

The researcher is also a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS), as well as a Commander of the National Order of Scientific Merit. In 2022, she was awarded the Paschoal Senise Chair at the University of São Paulo (USP), and currently works on coordinating national and international scientific collaborations with FAPESP.

The new director assumes the position in a context of strengthening the role of CGEE, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026, as a strategic institution of the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation.