Norman Borlaug

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Norman Borlaug (2004)

Norman Ernest Borlaug (born March 25, 1914 in Cresco , Iowa , † September 12, 2009 in Dallas , Texas ) was an American agronomist who received the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and work to improve agriculture .

biography

Norman E. Borlaug was born to a farmer in 1914 and attended high school in his hometown of Cresco until 1932 . He then studied forestry and agricultural sciences at the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1937 with a Bachelor of Science . In 1938 and 1939 he worked in the US forest service. In 1941, he was charged with a thesis on plant physiology through variation and variability in Fusarium Lini doctorate . In 1941 he became a lecturer at the University of Iowa ; from 1942 to 1944 he worked as a research assistant in the research laboratory of the " DuPont de Nemours Foundation".

In 1944 Borlaug joined the Rockefeller Foundation's research to increase wheat , corn and bean products through biotechnology in Mexico . He worked there until 1960. From 1964 to 1979 he headed the wheat division of the International Corn and Wheat Processing Center in Mexico. He caused a stir because he didn't sit in the office wearing a “saco limpio” (clean jacket) and let his subordinates come - according to the typical image of a boss in Mexico at the time - but went to the farmers in the field and advised them.

During his work, Borlaug developed several high-performance wheat varieties, and he also laid the basis for breeding these varieties in Pakistan and the Middle East . The high -yielding Mexican wheat , into which a gene for "dwarfism" of a Japanese variety was bred, became particularly well known . Due to its short and compact stalk, this wheat can bear the heavy ear without kinking. Especially in India, where this wheat has been grown since 1962, the yields have increased almost three times in ten years. Similar successes could be achieved in China through improved rice. Because of these successes, Borlaug is now considered to be the main initiator of the so-called Green Revolution in developing countries , which saved millions of people from starvation.

On September 12, 2009, Norman Borlaug died of cancer in Dallas .

Norman Borlaug is regarded by experts as one of the most important agricultural scientists of all time. However, apart from his native state of Iowa, his life's work was almost forgotten by the general public.

Honors

Norman Borlaug has been recognized by several academies of science and learned societies, including a. into the National Academy of Sciences (1968), the Royal Swedish Academy of Forestry and Agriculture (1974), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1976) and the Royal Society (1987).

Posthumous honors:

  • On December 2, 2009 the asteroid (13085) Borlaug was named after him.
  • On the 100th anniversary of his birthday (March 25, 2014), a bronze statue depicting him was unveiled in the National Statuary Hall in Washington. Otherwise, there were few public awards in the commemorative year 2014.

literature

Footnotes

  1. ^ Register of Ph.D. Degrees Conferred . Graduate School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 1957, p. 57.
  2. ^ Barbara Klingbacher: Norman Borlaug . In: NZZ Folio . September 2017, p. 29.
  3. ↑ a b Joachim Müller-Jung : The silent year of the invisible hero. Why does nobody know Norman E. Borlaug? He saved millions and millions of people from starvation, but the year of commemoration for the father of the green revolution comes to an end without much public recognition. Our person 2014 . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of December 31, 2014, p. N1.
  4. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung : Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug has died . September 13, 2009
  5. ^ MSU Honorary Degree Recipients: Alphabetical List
  6. ↑ Press release of the University of Hohenheim: Highest scientific US award for Hohenheim honorary doctor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate , accessed on January 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kevin Alexander: Feeding millions - Professor credited with influencing more lives than any person in history receives Congressional Gold Medal. In: The Battalion. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007 ; accessed on June 27, 2015 .
  8. ↑ FAZ.net January 3, 2015: The silent year of the invisible hero (with photo of the bronze)

Web links

Commons : Norman Borlaug  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Borlaug, Norman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Borlaug, Norman Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American agronomist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Cresco , Iowa
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 2009
Place of death Dallas , Texas