American agronomist and Nobel Laureate (1914–2009)
Norman Borlaug
Borlaug in 2004
Born
(1914-03-25)March 25, 1914
Saude, Iowa, U.S.
Died
September 12, 2009(2009-09-12) (aged 95)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater
University of Minnesota (BS, MS, PhD)
Known for
Green Revolution
World Food Prize
Awards
Nobel Peace Prize (1970)
Order of the Aztec Eagle (1970)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977)
ForMemRS (1987)[1]
Vannevar Bush Award (2000)
Public Welfare Medal (2002)
National Medal of Science (2004)
Congressional Gold Medal (2006)
Padma Vibhushan (2006)
Scientific career
Fields
Agronomy
Plant pathology
Genetics
Institutions
DuPont
Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program (Mexico)
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Texas A&M University
Thesis
Variation and Variability in Fusarium lini.(1942)
Doctoral advisor
Jonas Jergon Christensen
Other academic advisors
Elvin C. Stakman
Norman Ernest Borlaug (/ˈbɔːrlɔːɡ/; March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009)[2] was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Borlaug was awarded multiple honors for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, one of only seven people to have received all three awards.[3]
Borlaug received his B.S. in forestry in 1937 and PhD in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He took up an agricultural research position with CIMMYT in Mexico, where he developed semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties.[4][1] During the mid-20th century, Borlaug led the introduction of these high-yielding varieties combined with modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India. As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations.[5]
Borlaug was often called "the father of the Green Revolution",[6][7] and is credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation.[8][3][9][10][11][12] According to Jan Douglas, executive assistant to the president of the World Food Prize Foundation, the source of this number is Gregg Easterbrook's 1997 article "Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity." The article states that the "form of agriculture that Borlaug preaches may have prevented a billion deaths."[13] Dennis T. Avery also estimated that the number of lives saved by Borlaug's efforts to be one billion.[12] In 2009, Josette Sheeran, then the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, stated that Borlaug "saved more lives than any man in human history".[14] He was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.
Later in his life, he helped apply these methods of increasing food production in Asia and Africa.[15] He was also an accomplished wrestler in college and a pioneer of wrestling in the United States, being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his contributions.[16][17]
^ abPhillips, R. L. (2013). "Norman Ernest Borlaug. 25 March 1914 – 12 September 2009". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 59: 59–72. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2013.0012. S2CID 75211546.
^"Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug dies at 95". Associated Press. September 13, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
^ abMacAray, David (October 15, 2013). "The Man Who Saved a Billion Lives". The Huffington Post.
^Cite error: The named reference natureobituary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Borlaug, father of ‘Green Revolution’, dead", DAWN.com. September 14, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
^Scott Kilman and Roger Thurow. "Father of 'Green Revolution' Dies". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
^Dowswell, C. (October 15, 2009). "Norman Ernest Borlaug (1914–2009)". Science. 326 (5951): 381. doi:10.1126/science.1182211. PMID 19833952. S2CID 36826133.
^Cite error: The named reference Science Heroes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^The phrase "over a billion lives saved" is often cited by others in reference to Norman Borlaug's work.
^"Hearings". Agriculture.senate.gov. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011.
^"Norman E. Borlaug - Extended Biography". www.worldfoodprize.org. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
^ abAvery, Dennis T. (2011). "Winning the Food Race". The Brown Journal of World Affairs. 18 (1): 107–118. ISSN 1080-0786.
^Easterbrook, Gregg (January 1997). "Forgotten benefactor of humanity". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
^"UN food agency mourns death of champion against hunger". news.un.org. September 13, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
^Enriquez, Juan (September 2007). "Why Can't We Grow New Energy?". TED. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
^"Dr. Norman Borlaug". nwhof.org. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
^"Dr. Norman Borlaug". Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
Norman Ernest Borlaug (/ˈbɔːrlɔːɡ/; March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009) was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to...
The 1970 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the American agronomist NormanBorlaug (1914–2009) "for having given a well-founded hope - the green revolution...
Norman E. Borlaug. It carries a cash prize of ₹5,00,000, a gold medal, and a citation. The award should not be confused with the IFA NormanBorlaug Award...
initial development in Mexico. A key leader was agricultural scientist NormanBorlaug, the "Father of the Green Revolution", who received the Nobel Peace...
The Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium, commonly known as the Borlaug Dialogue, is an annual international symposium tackling the topic of global...
NormanBorlaug, or Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, is a bronze sculpture depicting the American agronomist and humanitarian of the same name by Benjamin Victor...
availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate NormanBorlaug and established in 1986 through the support of General Foods, the prize...
period was part of the larger Green Revolution endeavor initiated by NormanBorlaug, which leveraged agricultural research and technology to increase agricultural...
outpaced private expenditures.: xxi Wilbur Olin Atwater Robert Bakewell NormanBorlaug Luther Burbank George Washington Carver Carl Henry Clerk George C. Clerk...
experimental crop varieties. One of its researchers, wheat breeder NormanBorlaug, developed dwarf wheat varieties that put more energy into grain production...
was investing heavily in the Green Revolution, especially the work by NormanBorlaug that enabled India, Mexico, and many poor countries to upgrade their...
Supporting services and incentives. p. 78. Retrieved 2011-12-16. "The NormanBorlaug Award for Field Research and Application, Endowed by the Rockefeller...
Missouri Francis Preston Blair, Jr., Missouri William Borah, Idaho NormanBorlaug, Iowa William Jennings Bryan, Nebraska John Burke, North Dakota John...
RHt genes were introduced to modern wheat varieties in the 1960s by NormanBorlaug from Norin 10 cultivars of wheat grown in Japan. Short stems are important...
food security worldwide. In 2005 the noted green revolution pioneer NormanBorlaug brought great attention to the problem, and most subsequent efforts...
(born Elsa Alina Casales; August 14, 1959) has been the Director of the NormanBorlaug Institute for International Agriculture & Development at Texas A&M University's...
Anthony Joseph Arduengo III Jacques Antoine Bidermann Samuel Bodman NormanBorlaug Donaldson Brown Richard H. Brown Wallace Carothers Uma Chowdhry Thomas...
Krishna Mulayam Singh Yadav Science and engineering V. K. Aatre Salim Ali NormanBorlaug Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Rajagopala Chidambaram Charles Correa Satish...
Krishna Mulayam Singh Yadav Science and engineering V. K. Aatre Salim Ali NormanBorlaug Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Rajagopala Chidambaram Charles Correa Satish...
President, The Club of Rome George Wald; Scientist, Nobel Prize winner NormanBorlaug; Nobel Peace Prize winner Emile Benoit; Economist, Columbia University...
Anthony Joseph Arduengo III Jacques Antoine Bidermann Samuel Bodman NormanBorlaug Donaldson Brown Richard H. Brown Wallace Carothers Uma Chowdhry Thomas...
Anthony Joseph Arduengo III Jacques Antoine Bidermann Samuel Bodman NormanBorlaug Donaldson Brown Richard H. Brown Wallace Carothers Uma Chowdhry Thomas...
Anthony Joseph Arduengo III Jacques Antoine Bidermann Samuel Bodman NormanBorlaug Donaldson Brown Richard H. Brown Wallace Carothers Uma Chowdhry Thomas...
Anthony Joseph Arduengo III Jacques Antoine Bidermann Samuel Bodman NormanBorlaug Donaldson Brown Richard H. Brown Wallace Carothers Uma Chowdhry Thomas...
1940s to the 1970s, advanced agricultural techniques were pioneered by NormanBorlaug of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) based...
Global Information