M. S. Swaminathan

Dr. Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (born August 7, 1925) is a Indian agriculturist and heads the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. He was included in TIME Magazine's 1999 list of the world's 100 most influential Asian people. The high yields led to what was called the Indian "Green Revolution", as part of Norman Borlaug's Green Revolution which was spreading throughout the world.

Related Topics:
August 7 - 1925 - India - TIME - 1999 - Norman Borlaug - Green Revolution

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He has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as "the Father of Economic Ecology" and by Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations, as "a living legend who will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction". He was Chairman of the UN Science Advisory Committee set up in 1980 to take follow-up action on the Vienna Plan of Action. He has also served as Independent Chairman of the FAO Council and President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. He is the current President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs; he is the first person from a third world country to be elected the president. He is also on the Board of Trustees of Alexandria Bibliotheca - the only non-White and non-Arab on the board.

Related Topics:
Javier Perez de Cuellar - Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs - Third world

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He graduated from Cambridge in 1952 with a PhD in genetics.

Related Topics:
Cambridge - 1952 - PhD - Genetics

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Professor Swaminathan's contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India have led to his being widely referred to as the scientific leader of the green revolution movement. He is now widely known for his advocacy of environmentally sustainable agriculture and sustainable food security. The International Association of Women and Development conferred on him the first international award for significant contributions to promoting the knowledge, skill, and technological empowerment of women in agriculture and for his pioneering role in mainstreaming gender considerations in agriculture and rural development. Professor Swaminathan was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1971, the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986, and the first World Food Prize in 1987. His recent awards include the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award (2000) and the Planet and Humanity Medal of the International Geographical Union (2000).

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Professor Swaminathan is a Fellow of many scientific academies of India and the world, including the Royal Society of London and the U S National Academy of Sciences. He has received 46 honorary doctorate degrees from universities around the world. He currently holds the UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai (Madras), India and Chairman of the National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security of India.

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Following the Boxer day tsunami, he had advised India to go for mangrove plantation in coastal areas to minimise damage of future tsunamis.

Related Topics:
Boxer day tsunami - India - Mangrove

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Some of his published work including one claiming the introduction of high lysine content into wheat has been questioned. This work is analyzed in detail by Broad and Wade in their book on scientific fraud.

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