Julio Kalazich is a professor at the Agronomy School of Universidad de Los Lagos in Osorno, southern Chile, with teaching, research, and extension responsibilities. Julio was born and raised in Porvenir, a small town on Tierra del Fuego Island in Chile’s extreme south, where his father—a son of Croatian immigrants—raised sheep on a small farm, and his mother was a teacher at the local school.

He attended high school in Punta Arenas, the region’s capital, and later entered Universidad Austral in Valdivia, southern Chile, where he obtained a degree in agricultural engineering in 1977 and developed an interest in agricultural research. That same year, he joined the Remehue Regional Center of the Agricultural Research Institute (INIA), part of the Ministry of Agriculture in Osorno, South Chile, to work as a potato breeder—a program he led for 40 years.

In 1985, he went to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where he obtained a PhD in plant breeding, working under Dr. Bob Plaisted, a renowned potato breeder. In 2002, Julio was appointed Regional Director of INIA Remehue, serving until 2010, and in 2014 became the National Director of INIA until 2018.

During his extensive career, he led the development and release of 13 potato varieties, one of which is currently the second most important in the country, and three others are among the 10 best-selling varieties. Julio has extensive national and international experience in the field of potatoes as well as in agricultural research more broadly, collaborating with institutions in several countries.

Between 2004 and 2016, he was a member of the Advisory Board of the McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program, serving as its Chairman for the last two years. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Potato Genetic Improvement Program of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture for six years. Between 2014 and 2018, he was a member, Chairman, and Vice-Chairman of the Boards of PROCISUR and FONTAGRO—two organizations formed by South American and Latin American National Agricultural Research Institutes, respectively.

In 2022, Julio joined the World Potato Congress as an International Advisor, becoming a Director of the WPC Board in July 2025. He is currently Vice President of the Latin American Potato Association (ALAP), a member of the Board of the Chilean Potato Association, and also a member of the Board of the Chilean Academy of Agricultural Sciences.