William Dollente Dar serves for the second time as the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. His first stint as agri chief was in 1998-1999 under the administration of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

To date, he is the only Filipino who led a global agricultural research institute, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, headquartered in India. He served for three consecutive five-year terms, from 2000 to 2014.

His extensive research and professional experience include crop management, farming systems development, and technology sharing and upscaling.

Dr. Dar earned his BS in Agricultural Education in 1969 and MS in Agronomy in 1976 at Mountain State Agricultural College, now known as Benguet State University (BSU), in La Trinidad, Benguet.

At BSU, he started as a researcher and instructor in 1979 and rose to become Professor VI and Vice President for R&D support services in 1985. In between those years, he pursued a PhD in Horticulture at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, completing it in 1980.

When the DA was reorganized in 1987, Dr. Dar was appointed as the first director of the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research. He also served as executive director of PCARRD, from 1994 to 1998. The agency is now called the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), based in Los Baños, Laguna.

He received eight honorary doctorate degrees in various fields from several state universities and colleges in the Philippines.

In December 2016, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte honored Dr. Dar with The 2016 Outstanding Filipino Award for his exemplary achievements and selfless dedication to his profession that made significant contributions to the betterment of his countrymen and to his country as a whole.