Peter VanderZaag (PhD) is President of the World Potato Congress Inc. He first served  the WPC in various capacities since 2014 and as President since January 2023.

Peter was an integral part of developing the programs for the last 4 WPCongresses held in China, Peru, Ireland and Australia.

Peter is a potato scientist who has worked for the International Potato Centre(CIP) in several African countries and in later years, in SE Asia and China.  Later, he  served on the Board of Trustees of CIP from 2007-2014 including 4 years as chair.

He also served as adjunct professor at several universities in Asia and has guided over 30 graduate students towards their advance degrees.

Peter and his family established Sunrise Potato, a large potato farm which focuses on sustainable farming practices.

In 2014 he initiated the Sunrise Potato Systems Institute to assist remote mountain potato farmers in Asia.

Peter is passionate about addressing global food security through potato production and research.