Sam Eathington

Chief Technology Officer

Sam Eathington, Ph.D., is chief technology officer at Vylor. Sam is responsible for leading the company’s global research and development organization, including an innovation pipeline anchored in the industry’s most elite germplasm and transformative sciences like gene editing and biotechnology. He also oversees the company’s external innovation program to advance and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.

Sam was previously executive vice president, chief technology and digital officer, at Vylor’s heritage company Corteva, a role he assumed after joining the company in 2020 as senior vice president and chief technology officer.

A recognized leader in agricultural innovation, Sam served as chief science officer of The Climate Corporation (part of Bayer Crop Science) for about five years before joining Corteva. Earlier, he spent nearly two decades with Monsanto, holding multiple progressive roles in quantitative traits and molecular breeding and serving as vice president, global plant breeding.

Sam holds a Bachelor of Science in agronomy, a Master of Science in soybean breeding and genetics and a Ph.D. in quantitative genetics and maize breeding, all from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.