A Harvard Kennedy School professor wrote a widely disseminated policy paper last year in support of genetically modified organisms at the behest of seed giant Monsanto, without disclosing his connection, e-mails show.

Monsanto not only suggested the topic to professor Calestous Juma. It went so far as to provide a summary of what the paper should say and a suggested headline. The company then connected the professor with a marketing company to pump it out over the Internet as part of Monsanto’s strategy to win over the public and lawmakers, according to e-mails obtained through a public records request.

Juma, an international development expert, said he was not paid by Monsanto to extol the benefits of GMOs. He used material from his previously published book on the topic, he said, and did not perform new research for Monsanto nor change his views.

“It’s not that I was trying to hide anything,” Juma said Wednesday in an interview.

The episode offers a rare glimpse into efforts by both sides in the hotly debated issue to marshal support from academics, to whom the public looks for impartial analysis.

A spokesman for the Kennedy School declined to comment on Juma’s failure to disclose his ties to Monsanto. Harvard’s conflict of interest policy states that “faculty members should not permit outside activities and financial interests to compromise their primary commitment to the mission of the university.”

Juma said he did not make a conscious effort not to disclose his connection to Monsanto.

“It may have been bad judgment on my part, but that’s how I was thinking at the time,’’ he said.

A specialist in academic conflict of interest said corporate influence can impact professors subconsciously.

“The whole thing comes down to, in the end, a concern about whether there is inappropriate influence from the company,” said Josephine Johnston, a researcher at the Hastings Center, a nonprofit research organization in Garrison, N.Y., who primarily studies conflicts of interest in biomedical research.