Keith Downey

Richard Keith Downey is a Canadian agricultural scientist known as the father of canola for his role transforming rapeseed into the modern canola crop. After earning degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and a doctorate from Cornell University, he began working for Agriculture Canada in 1951, moving to the Saskatoon research station in 1957 and becoming principal research scientist in charge of oilseed crop breeding there in 1958. Downey is the breeder or co-breeder of thirteen rapeseed and canola cultivars, five condiment mustards and one alfalfa variety, work that removed the undesirable erucic acid and glucosinolate compounds from rapeseed and turned it into an edible oilseed crop grown across the Canadian prairies and worldwide.