Credited with saving over a billion people from starvation in his lifetime, Norman Borlaug, Texas A&M Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture and 2007 Congressional Gold Medal winner, embodies the spirit of integrity that is woven throughout the Texas A&M community.

Borlaug is one of only five people in history to receive the impressive triple honor of Congressional Gold Medal, Nobel Peace Prize and President's Medal of Freedom. Early in his career, his scientific knowledge and vision found expression in a greater humanitarian mission: feeding the hungry people of our world. Now, 93 years young, he has lived his mission for 65 years, improving people's lives in countries around the globe.

For decades, Borlaug worked and conducted research in Third World countries, primarily focused on developing higher-yielding wheat crops to feed a growing world population. These efforts earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2004 and, most recently, the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bush in 2007. He is affectionately known as the "Father of the Green Revolution," a namesake he received because of his development of smaller, easier-to-harvest wheat varieties that are disease-resistant and adaptable to varied growing conditions.

Borlaug bred the dwarf wheat variety in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s because the traditional varieties there grew so tall that the stalks would bend over, losing the grain heads on the ground. His developments increased Mexican wheat production six-fold by the early 1960s. From there, he took the improved varieties to India and Pakistan, although scientists then thought these nations of explosive populations and poor land were a hopeless cause. But the effort worked. When Borlaug's work began there, India produced 11 million metric tons of wheat per year. That country is now the world's second largest wheat producer and is expected to bring in 73 million tons this year, according to the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Since 1984, Borlaug has taught and inspired young scientists at Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and continued his research in Latin America, Africa and Near and Middle Eastern nations. In 1999, the University's Board of Regents named the Center for Southern Crop Improvement in his honor. The Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture was established a few years later.

"Dr. Borlaug's life-long work in fields throughout the world is a shining example of the importance of agriculture, not only for feeding starving people, but for economic and political stability," said Elsa Murano, Texas A&M University System vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences. "We are honored to have shared in his work for more than two decades, and we salute and honor the legacy he has built for those who are following in his footsteps."

For more information, visit Texas A&M University on the Web at www.tamu.edu and itunes.tamu.edu.

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