1. Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the "green revolution" who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger and saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday in Texas, a Texas A&M University. He was 95.

2. He has died just before 11 p.m. at his home in Dallas from complications of cancer.

3. The Nobel committee honored Borlaug in 1970 for his contributions to high-yield crop varieties and bringing other agricultural innovations to the developing world.

4. His successes in the 1960s came as books such as "The Population Bomb" warned readers that mass starvation was inevitable.

5. Norman Ernest Borlaug was born March 25, 1914, on a farm near Cresco, Iowa, and educated through the eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse.

6. "I was born out of the soil of Howard County," he said. "It was that black soil of the Great Depression that led me to a career in agriculture."

7. In 1963, Borlaug was named head of the newly formed International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, where he trained thousands of young scientists.

8. In July 2007, Borlaug received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor given by Congress.

Source link:
Click This Link