National Academy of Sciences Salutes Schnable for Pioneering Work

By Geitner Simmons

The National Academy of Sciences has awarded Husker plant geneticist James Schnable one of its highest honors for multiple advancements he has achieved in plant science.

“Schnable’s pioneering innovations in plant genomics, quantitative genetics and phenotyping are reshaping how we understand, improve and sustain the world’s major crops,” the organization said in awarding him the 2026 NAS Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences. The honor comes with a medal and a $100,000 prize.

The award recognizes research by a mid-career U.S. scientist who “has made an extraordinary contribution to agriculture or to the understanding of the biology of a species fundamentally important to agriculture or food production.” Past recipients of the award are internationally recognized leaders in fields including genomic studies of plants and animals, food security, animal welfare and pollinator health. 

Schnable, the Nebraska Corn Presidential Chair and professor of agronomy and horticulture, has pioneered and collaborated on a series of landmark research projects, including the complete mapping of the corn genome; a dramatically expedited process for identifying corn gene functions; and a current project to develop the first digital twin of a cornfield.

Those projects, involving advanced interdisciplinary collaboration, fill in key gaps in scientific understanding and provide opportunities to develop more robust and adaptable hybrids through breeding or gene editing.