Alan Kinnersley has been a substantial contributor to the Haitian project since learning about it from his neighbor, David Smith, in 2002. Alan is the treasurer of Education for Prosperity.

Alan was born and raised in the west of England and came to America for graduate studies at Cornell.  He graduated from Leicester University with a B.Sc. in biological sciences.

Alan received a Ph.D. in plant physiology from Cornell in 1976 and went on to Yale on a postdoctoral fellowship. A second post doctorate in Lake Placid, NY, was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Health. The misery involved in grant getting to support his research persuaded Alan to go into industry. He has directed research programs at CPC International (IL), Phyton Technologies (TN) and most recently at Emerald BioAgriculture (MI). During his career in industry he has obtained 16 patents from which 3 commercial products have been developed.  The products are being used to boost crop yields worldwide, and three corporate entities (Galbraith Research LP, NanoChem Agri Sciences, and Emerald BioAgricultiure) have come into being to manage the business opportunities. In spite of the technical success Alan is currently unemployed.  He has found that success in the technical area does not necessarily relate to success in business and job security.

Personal Statement

After Alan graduated from Leicester University he took a year off, traveling to India and S.E. Asia before coming to America.  As Alan tells it, “I left Leicester after 4 years of studying science and believing there was a scientific/rational explanation for most experiences in life - India changed all that. At that time the Beatles had been to India with the Maharishi and I followed their path, in search of spiritual answers. In Delhi I went to a lecture by Krishnamurti, one of the great spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. The Krishnamurti foundation operates enlightened educational facilities in the USA and Europe. At the end of Krishnamurti’s talk I asked him a question. My question was later published in the transcripts of Krishnamurti’s 1970 lectures.  My question also prompted an invitation by an Indian medical doctor, who was in the audience, for me to visit and stay with his family in their village near Delhi.  Dr. R. P. Kaushik treated patients in the morning, charging only what he needed to support his family. He spent the afternoons in meditation and the evenings talking with the villagers about spiritual matters.”  Alan said that the time he spent visiting with the Doctor, and being with someone who seemed blissfully happy with so little material wealth was a life changing experience. Later as a student at Cornell he paid for the Doctor to visit the USA. Subsequently others financed annual visits for the Doctor who traveled widely and lectured on spiritual matters. An interview with the Doctor appeared in the December 1976 issue of The Yoga Journal.

Alan is married to Cheng-Yuh who is from Taiwan and came to the USA for her masters degree. Cheng-Yuh is disabled from fibromyalgia. They have one daughter, Krisha who is an undergraduate at the University of Michigan.  At this time Krisha is in Spain at the University of Seville. She is fluent in Spanish and Chinese and is planning to take Italian and Portuguese next year at the U of M.

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