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.

Early life, education, and family

Borlaug is the great-grandchild of Norwegian immigrants to the United States. Ole Olson Dybevig and Solveig Thomasdotter Rinde, from Leikanger, Norway, immigrated from Norway to Dane, Wisconsin, in 1854. Two of their children, Ole Olson Borlaug and Nels Olson Borlaug (Norman's grandfather), were integral in the establishment of the Immanuel Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in the small Norwegian-American community of Saude, near Cresco, Iowa in 1889.{{mn|RootsWeb|1}}{{mn|Telelaget|2}}

Related Topics:
Norwegian - United States - Ole Olson Dybevig - Solveig Thomasdotter Rinde - Leikanger - Dane, Wisconsin - 1854 - Ole Olson Borlaug - Nels Olson Borlaug - Norwegian-American - Saude - Cresco - Iowa

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Borlaug was born the eldest of four children—his three younger sisters were Palma Lillian (Behrens; 1916 to 2004), Charlotte (Culbert; born 1919) and Helen (1921 to 1921)—to Henry Oliver (1889 to 1971) and Clara (Vaala) Borlaug (1888 to 1972) on his grandparents' farm in Saude. From age seven to nineteen, he worked on the 106 acre (429,000 m²) family farm west of Protivin, Iowa, fishing, hunting, and raising maize, oats, timothy hay, cattle, pigs and chickens. He attended the one-teacher one-room New Oregon #8 rural school in Howard County up through eighth grade; today, the school building, built in 1865, is owned by the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation as part of "Project Borlaug Legacy".{{mn|Iowa|3}} At Cresco High School, Borlaug played baseball and wrestled, where his coach continually encouraged him to "give 105%."

Related Topics:
1916 - 2004 - 1889 - 1971 - 1888 - 1972 - Acre - Protivin, Iowa - Timothy hay - One-room - Howard County - 1865 - Baseball - Wrestled

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He attributes his decision to leave the farm and pursue further education to his grandfather, Nels Olson Borlaug (1859 to 1935), who strongly encouraged Borlaug's learning, once saying, "You're wiser to fill your head now if you want to fill your belly later on."{{mn|McFarland2003|4}} Through a Depression-era program known as the National Youth Administration, he was able to enroll at the University of Minnesota in 1933. Initially, Borlaug failed the entrance exam, but was accepted to the school's newly-created two-year General College. After two quarters, he transferred to the College of Agriculture's forestry program. While at the University of Minnesota, he was a member of the varsity wrestling team, reaching the Big Ten semifinals, and helped introduce the sport to Minnesota high schools by putting on exhibition matches around the state. "Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons ... I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough. Many times I drew on that strength. It's an inappropriate crutch perhaps, but that's the way I'm made"{{mn|UoM|5}}. Borlaug was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1992.

Related Topics:
1859 - 1935 - Depression - National Youth Administration - University of Minnesota - 1933 - Forestry - Big Ten - Exhibition matches - National Wrestling Hall of Fame - Stillwater, Oklahoma

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To finance his studies, Borlaug periodically had to put his education on hold and take a job. One of these jobs, in 1935, was as a leader in the Civilian Conservation Corps, working with the unemployed on federal projects. Many of the people who worked for him were starving. He later recalled, "I saw how food changed them...All of this left scars on me".{{mn|greengiant|6}} From 1935 to 1938, before and after receiving his Bachelor of Science forestry degree in 1937, Borlaug worked for the United States Forestry Service at stations in Massachusetts and Idaho. He spent one summer in the middle fork of Idaho's Salmon River—the most isolated piece of wilderness in the lower 48 states at the time.{{mn|greengiant|6}}

Related Topics:
1935 - Civilian Conservation Corps - Federal - 1938 - Bachelor of Science - 1937 - United States Forestry Service - Massachusetts - Idaho - Salmon River - Lower 48 states

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At the end of his undergraduate education, Borlaug attended a lecture by Elvin Charles Stakman, a professor and head of the plant pathology group at the University of Minnesota. The event would be pivotal for Borlaug's future life. Stakman, in his speech titled "These Shifty Little Enemies that Destroy our Food Crops", discussed the manifestation of the plant disease rust, a parasitic fungus that feeds on phytonutrients, in wheat, oat, and barley crops across the United States. He had discovered that special plant breeding methods created plants resistant to rust. His research greatly interested Borlaug, and when Borlaug's job at the Forest Service was eliminated due to budget cuts, he asked Stakman if he should go into forest pathology. Stakman advised him to focus on plant pathology instead,{{mn|UoM|5}} and Borlaug subsequently re-enrolled to the University to study plant pathology under Stakman. Borlaug received his Master of Science degree in 1940 and Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics in 1942.

Related Topics:
Elvin Charles Stakman - Plant pathology - Rust - Parasitic - Fungus - Phytonutrients - Plant breeding - Budget - Master of Science - 1940 - Ph.D. - Genetics - 1942

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Borlaug met his wife, Margaret Gibson, while in college, as he waited tables at a Dinkytown coffee shop where they both worked. They would go on to have two children, Norman Jean "Jeanie" (later married "Laube") and William Borlaug. The Borlaugs currently have five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Their current residence is in northern Dallas, although Borlaug is only there a few weeks of the year. His wife, Margaret, who is now blind, has assistance from their daughter Jeanie.{{mn|greengiant|6}}

Related Topics:
Dinkytown - Dallas

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