Brian Diers is a professor emeritus in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. Prior to his retirement, he was the Charles Adlai Ewing Endowed Chair of Soybean Genetics and Breeding and he taught genetics and plant breeding and conducted research.

His research focused on improving disease and pest resistance, seed quality, and yield potential of soybean. His breeding program developed nonGMO varieties for commodity and specialty markets with an emphasis on developing varieties with high oleic acid and low linolenic acid oil. He was part of the Soybean Innovation Lab, a USAID project focused on the development of the soybean industry in Africa. Since that project ended, he continues to work with soybean breeders in several countries in Africa.

He is a fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.