The Director of the Osijek Agricultural Institute organizes and manages all activities and operations of the Institute. The Director is elected and appointed by the Institute’s Management Council through a public competition.

The Director implements the decisions of the Management Council, appoints and dismisses department heads and managers, proposes the internal organization of the Institute, and submits proposals for general acts to the Management Council. The Director enforces general acts and issues instructions for their implementation, submits annual financial reports to the Management Council, and provides proposals and opinions on specific matters.

Additionally, the Director makes decisions on the employment and termination of staff in accordance with the law, resolves employment-related rights as a first-instance authority, represents the Institute, and ensures legal compliance in all aspects of its work. The Director proposes profit distribution, represents the Institute in all proceedings before courts, administrative and other state authorities, issues written authorizations for others to act on behalf of the Institute, designates signatories for financial and other documents, approves applications for project tenders, and performs other duties defined by the Statute and general acts of the Institute.

Dr. Zvonimir Zdunić, Ph.D., is the current Director of the Osijek Agricultural Institute. He was first appointed by the Management Council on August 10, 2009, and assumed office on October 1, 2009, for a four-year term. He was reappointed on August 2, 2013, and began his second term on October 1, 2013. Dr. Zdunić was elected for a third term by the Council on July 7, 2017, assuming office again on October 1, 2017. On June 14, 2021, the Management Council reappointed him for a fourth term, which began on October 1, 2021.

Dr. Zdunić was born on March 15, 1970, in Osijek, where he completed both elementary and secondary school with a focus on mathematics. He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek in 1994 with an average grade of 4.64. He completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, earning his master’s degree in 1998 and his doctorate in 2001 with a perfect average of 5.0, making him the youngest Ph.D. holder in his field in Croatia. In 2003, he completed postdoctoral specialization in maize breeding and genetics at Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy, in the United States.

As the best student at the Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek, Dr. Zvonimir Zdunić received the Rector’s Award in 1994. Due to his academic excellence, he was awarded scholarships from the Ministry of Science and Technology for the 1993/94 academic year and from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for the 1992/93 academic year.

Dr. Zdunić has been employed at the Agricultural Institute Osijek since March 1, 1995, in the Department of Maize Breeding and Genetics. He actively contributed to the Ministry of Science and Technology’s program “Breeding of Agricultural Crops in Slavonia”, specifically within the project “Development of Maize Populations, Lines, and Hybrids.” From 2002 to 2006, he worked as a collaborator on the project “Development and Improvement of Maize Populations, Lines, and Hybrids.” On January 2, 2007, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports appointed him as the lead researcher for the scientific project “Identification of Megaenvironments in Maize Breeding.”

Dr. Zdunić has consistently exceeded the criteria required for election to professional and scientific positions. Since 2017, he has held the title of Scientific Advisor with Tenure, and in 2019 he was appointed to the academic rank of Full Professor.

To date, he has published over 90 scientific papers and has participated in numerous scientific conferences both in Croatia and abroad (including Finland, Hungary, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, and others). In his work on maize breeding and genetics programs, he has co-authored the development of more than 50 commercial maize hybrids registered both domestically and internationally.

From April 1, 2006, to September 30, 2009, he served as Assistant Director for International Cooperation. In that role, he successfully established a number of commercially valuable partnerships with EU countries (Hungary, Belgium, Slovakia, Slovenia), countries in the region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia), and Asian countries (Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan).