Borlaug, Norman (Ernest)

(born March 25, 1914, Cresco, Iowa, U.S.) U.S. agricultural scientist and plant pathologist. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. As a researcher with the Rockefeller Foundation in Mexico (1944–60), he developed strains of grain that tripled Mexican wheat production. Later his dwarf wheats raised harvests in Pakistan and India by 60%, ending the food shortages that had plagued the subcontinent in the 1960s. For helping lay the groundwork of the Green Revolution, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1970. Afterward he worked on improving crop yields in Africa and taught at Texas A&M University.

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