Norman Borlaug

Norman Ernest Borlaug (born 25 March 1914) is an American agricultural scientist, humanitarian, Nobel laureate, and the father of the Green Revolution. Borlaug received his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He took up an agricultural research position in Mexico, where he developed semi-dwarf high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties.

Career

From 1942 to 1944, Borlaug was employed as a microbiologist at DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware. It was planned that he would lead research on industrial and agricultural bacteriocides, fungicides, and preservatives. However, following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Borlaug tried to enlist in the military, but was rejected under wartime manpower regulations; his lab was converted to do research for the United States armed forces. One of his first projects was to develop glue that could withstand the warm saltwater of the South Pacific. The Imperial Japanese Navy had gained control of the island of Guadalcanal, and patrolled the sky and sea by day. The only way that U.S. forces could supply the troops stranded on the island was by approaching at night by speedboat, and jettisoning boxes of canned food and other supplies into the surf to wash ashore. The problem was that the glue holding these containers together disintegrated in saltwater. Within weeks, Borlaug and his colleagues had developed an adhesive that resisted corrosion, allowing food and supplies to reach the stranded Marines. Other tasks included work with camouflage, canteen disinfectants, and insulation for small electronics.{{mn|greengiant|6}}

Related Topics:
1942 - 1944 - Microbiologist - DuPont - Wilmington, Delaware - Bacteriocide - Fungicide - Preservative - December 7 - 1941 - Attack on Pearl Harbor - United States armed forces - Glue - Saltwater - South Pacific - Imperial Japanese Navy - Guadalcanal - Adhesive - Corrosion - Camouflage - Canteen

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In 1940, U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace received a request by Mexican government officials for assistance in developing a program to train a new generation of Mexican agricultural scientists. The agrarian reforms that had been instituted following the Mexican Revolution of 1910 had resulted in much lower yields, and the Mexican government feared their agricultural industry was being left behind. The U.S. government passed the program on to the Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation contacted E.C. Stakman and two other leading agronomists. They developed a proposal for a new organization, the Office of Special Studies, as part of the Mexican Government, but under the direction of the Rockefeller Foundation. The organization was to be staffed with both U.S. and Mexican scientists, focusing on soil development, maize and wheat production, and plant pathology. Stakman chose Dr. J. George "Dutch" Harrar as project leader. Harrar immediately set out to hire Borlaug as head of the newly-established Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program in Mexico; Borlaug declined, choosing to finish his war service at DuPont.{{mn|Davidson|7}} In July 1944, after rejecting DuPont's offer to double his salary, and temporarily leaving behind his pregnant wife and 14 month old daughter, he flew to Mexico City to head the new program as a geneticist and plant pathologist.{{mn|greengiant|6}}

Related Topics:
1940 - Vice President - Henry A. Wallace - Mexican Revolution - 1910 - Rockefeller Foundation - J. George "Dutch" Harrar - Mexico - July - 1944 - Pregnant - Mexico City - Geneticist - Plant pathologist

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In 1964, he was made the director of the International Wheat Improvement Program at El Batán, Texcoco, on the eastern fringes of Mexico City, as part of the newly-established Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research's International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo, or CIMMYT), an autonomous international research training institute developed from the Cooperative Wheat Research Production Program, with funding jointly undertaken by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and the Mexican government. Borlaug officially retired from the position in 1979; however, he remains a senior consultant at the CIMMYT. Since his retirement, he has continued to be involved in plant research at CIMMYT with wheat, triticale, barley, maize, and high-altitude sorghum, in addition to taking up charitable and educational roles.

Related Topics:
1964 - El Batán - Texcoco - Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research - International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center - Ford - Rockefeller - Foundations - Mexican government - 1979 - Consultant - Triticale - Barley - Maize - Sorghum - Charitable

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