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The Birth of a Leader
Norman Borlaug is born on a farm in Cresco, Iowa. -
University Years
Norman Borlaug attends the Univeristy of Minnesota, earning a BS in Forestry and his PhD in Plant Pathology. -
DuPont de Nemours
Dr. Borlaug lands his first job, post-college, as a Microbiologist for DuPont de Nemours, a chemical company. -
Mexican Ministry of Agriculture Cooperative Program
"Dr. Borlaug joins the Foundation as the plant pathologist in the
Rockefeller Foundation-Mexican Ministry of Agriculture Cooperative Program." -
Program Director
Dr. Borlaug becomes Director of the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program in Mexico. -
Mexico
Mexico becomes self-sufficient in wheat production by growing more than 40 new, high yielding and rust-resistant varieties developed by Dr. Borlaug. -
Training Program
Under a joint UN Food and Agriculture Organization-Rockefeller
Foundation training program, Dr. Borlaug begins training Asian wheat scientists in Mexico. -
High-Yielding Wheat Varieties
Dr. Borlaug provides Mexico with the first semi-dwarf spring wheat, a new type of short plant with very high yield potential when grown with fertilizer. -
International Rice Research Institute
The Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation establish the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines to do for rice what Dr. Borlaug has done for wheat. -
Green Revolution Spreads
Building on the Rockefeller Foundation's agriculture program in India, Dr. Borlaug begins testing Mexican semi-dwarf wheat varieties in India and Pakistan with the help of Asian scientists he trained in Mexico. The Mexican wheat varieties perform exceptionally well. -
Southeast Asia
Dr. Borlaug arranges for 450 tons of semi-dwarf wheat seed from
Mexico to be imported into India and Pakistan. -
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
The Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation establish the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, building on the Rockefeller Foundation cooperative program. Dr. Borlaug is seconded by the Rockefeller Foundation to CIMMYT as Director of the
International Wheat Improvement Program. -
The Population Bomb
Stanford University Professor Paul Ehrlich wrote the book, The Population Bomb, predicting a drastic rise in population growth which would ulitmately pose as a threat to human survival. -
Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. Borlaug is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work and dedication to alleviating human suffering through his agricultural innovations. -
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Dr. Borlaug receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. -
Lifetime Fellow
Dr. Borlaug retires from the Rockefeller Foundation and CIMMYT at age 65 and is made a Lifetime Fellow by the Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees. -
Distinguished Professor
Dr. Borlaug becomes a Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, at Texas A&M Univeristy, a position he will hold for the rest of his life. -
World Food Prize
Dr. Borlaug creates the World Food Prize to recognize the greatest achievements in improving the quality, quantity, and availability of food in the world, and to inspire continued work. -
Green Revolution in Africa
Dr. Borlaug begins a second career that lasts more than 20 years,
working to improve agriculture in Africa under the Sasakawa Global 2000 Program. -
Borlaug-Ruan International Internship
Dr. Borlaug and John Ruan Sr. create the World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan International Internship to send high school students abroad for 8-week internships at research centers around the globe. -
National Medal of Science
Borlaug is awarded the prestigious National Medal of Science in 2004. -
Congressional Gold Medal
Dr. Borlaug receives the Congressional Gold Medal. Borlaug is one of only three Americans awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Elie Wiesel. He is the only American to hold those three honors and the National Medal of Science as well. -
A Timeless Legacy
Nobel Peace laureate Norman Borlaug dies after a lifetime of
contributions to the continuing struggle of global agriculture to feed the world’s skyrocketing population.
