“Major Goodman: A Lifetime of Maize Diversity and Breeding”

We invite you to the NC State 2026 Plant Breeding Retreat, a special hybrid symposium dedicated to honoring Dr. Major Goodman and his monumental, lifelong contributions to maize diversity and plant breeding. As we gather (in-person and online), we celebrate not only the scientific advancements he has championed but also the lasting impact he has had on generations of researchers and the broader agricultural community. We will be joined by distinguished colleagues and former students who will share insights from their own work, reflecting on the enduring legacy of Dr. Goodman’s career and the future of crop science he helped shape.

Join the Retreat

We invite you to join us virtually via our online stream.

Friday, Sep 25, 2026
1:00 pm – 4:15 pm EDT
Hybrid (online and in person)
Ocracoke Ballroom
Talley Student Union
NC State University

In-person registration is CLOSED and has reached maximum capacity.

Featured Speakers

David Bubeck explores the significant influence Major Goodman has had on breeding strategies within the commercial sector.

Bubeck recently retired and was a Research Director and Seed Product Development (SPD) Global Breeding Alliances Lead for Corteva Agriscience.  In his recent role, Bubeck served the Corteva plant breeding organization through the efforts of their Seed Product Commercialization team, driving global germplasm intellectual property protection, and provided a connection point for SPD with regulatory, compliance, stewardship, and advocating for the progress that plant breeders deliver.  Bubeck is a past member of the Executive Committee of the National Association for Plant Breeding, serves as current President of the Seed Science Foundation, and is on the Board of Directors for the Living History Farms.

Bubeck joined Pioneer Hi-Bred, now Corteva Agriscience, in February 1998 as a Research Coordinator in Corn Breeding and became a Research Director in 2000. He conducted a corn breeding program and subsequently led various parts of the North America and Southern Europe corn breeding programs through 2013. Since then, he has had several responsibilities, including Corn Platform Product Program Director, Global Trait Integration, Global Plant Pathology, Germplasm Security and Global Parent Characterization. Bubeck started in the seed industry as a corn breeder in Northrup King Co. (Sandoz, Novartis, Syngenta) in 1991 to 1998. Bubeck has been an advocate of plant breeding and related plant science technologies.  He has made numerous visits to the U.S. Capital to advocate and  educate on the importance of plant breeding, biotechnology, germplasm preservation and utilization, improved and reduced regulations for products of biotechnology.

Bubeck earned his Bachelor of Science degree in agronomy and his Master of Science degree in plant breeding and cytogenetics from Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. in plant breeding and crop science at North Carolina State University.

Paul Nelson will reflect on what he learned as a graduate student of Major M. Goodman at NC State and how those lessons have shaped his career at Bayer Crop Science and his contributions to the broader seed industry. 

Nelson is a Pipeline Strategy Scientist at Bayer Crop Science, supporting corn breeding strategy in North America and globally. During his 18-year career with Monsanto and Bayer, he has worked as a corn breeder in northwest Iowa and has held various leadership roles in breeding and data science. His work focuses on applying advances in modeling, genomics, engineering, digital technology, and artificial intelligence within large-scale crop development pipelines. Nelson is active in public and private collaboration across the seed industry. He is active within the American Seed Trade Association, served several terms on the advisory board of the U.S. Plant Variety Protection Office, and served on the Germplasm Enhancement of Maize Technical Steering Group. His collaborative research has included genomic selection in GEM germplasm and the application of molecular technologies in plant variety protection.

Nelson earned his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in the NCSU maize breeding program from 2004 to 2009. His education and mentorship from Major Goodman continue to influence his approach to data, science, and leadership. Originally from Manhattan, Kansas, he now lives in St. Louis with his wife, Lisa, and their four children.

Mike Jines provides insights into the innovative corn breeding progress and research breakthroughs at Corteva.

For 20 years, Jines worked to change how we breed better crops — 16 of them as a corn breeder and leader of corn breeding teams, and today as Breeding Technologies Lead. Throughout, his focus has stayed the same: integrating new technologies into applied breeding programs to deliver better products to farmers.

Along the way, he has partnered with exceptionally talented teams and scientists to transform breeding systems with technology and decision science that has translated into superior on-farm product performance.

Now Jines leads teams working across AI and machine learning, quantitative genetics, digital twins, gene editing, engineering and automation, and precision phenotyping, and collectively building the breeding systems of the future.

His mission is straightforward: advance breeding through science and technology to drive genetic gain and deliver more productive, resilient products for growers everywhere.

Jines earned his Ph.D. (2007) and M.S. (2005) in Plant Breeding from NC State University under the guidance of Dr. Major M. Goodman, and a B.S. (2002) from Purdue University.

Schedule and Speaker Bios

Time	Speaker bio	Title
1:00	Jim Holland	Major Goodman’s career contributions to crop diversity and plant breeding
1:20	David Bubeck	Major Goodman’s influence on commercial sector breeding
1:40	Paul Nelson	Lessons from Major: Shaping Science and Careers in Breeding Industry
2:00	Mike Jines	Corn breeding advances at Corteva
2:20	Matt Krakowsky	Germplasm Enhancement of Maize
2:35	Joe Gage	GxE for gene expression
2:50	Coffee Break
3:10	Peter Balint-Kurti	Major Goodman – His Small Part in my Brilliant Career
3:25	Ruben Rellán-Álvarez	Adaptive teosinte and landrace introgressions
3:40	David Ngure	Wide-scale evaluation of breeding lines developed at NC State
3:50	Destiny Tyson	Rapid photoperiod conversion of commercial tropical lines
4:00	Jordan Cummings	Evaluation of the US open-pollinated seed bank collection
4:15	Reception	Raleigh Brewing Company, 3709 Neil St., Raleigh, NC 27607