Roger Beachy is the founding president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri where his research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of virus disease in plants. Before joining the Danforth Center, Beachy headed the Division of Plant Biology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla from 1991-1998 and he was a member of the Biology Department at Washington University in St. Louis from 1978-1991.
In collaboration with Monsanto Company, Beachy developed a viral-disease resistant tomato- the world's first genetically modified food crop. Beachy has a Ph.D. in plant pathology from Michigan State University and a B.A. from Goshen College.
Beachy has received numerous awards for his research and serves on a number of boards and committees including the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad. Beachy is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
