R.I.P., Norman Borlaug

I was wondering for a little while whether I should mention this story – I don’t even know anything of the man, and I’d never even heard of him until a few hours ago. But, I suppose, any man credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives deserves an honorable mention when he passes away.

And so, we bid farewell to Norman Borlaug, the plant scientist and revolutionary who taught the world about high-yield agriculture, essentially saving untold millions and millions (over a billion, in fact) from starvation.

Norman E. Borlaug, the plant scientist who did more than anyone else in the 20th century to teach the world to feed itself and whose work was credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday night. He was 95 and lived in Dallas.

The cause was complications from cancer, said Kathleen Phillips, a spokeswoman for Texas A&M University, where Dr. Borlaug had served on the faculty since 1984.

Dr. Borlaug’s advances in plant breeding led to spectacular success in increasing food production in Latin America and Asia and brought him international acclaim. In 1970, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was widely described as the father of the broad agricultural movement called the Green Revolution, though decidedly reluctant to accept the title. “A miserable term,” he said, characteristically shrugging off any air of self-importance.

A true humble man. If there was ever a man who could rightfully brag about something … “Oh, yeah? Well, I saved hundreds of millions of people. How ’bout that?”

Lol … he will definitely be missed. World needs more true visionaries like him.

(via The Daily Grail)
Technorati tags: Norman Borlaug · heroes · agriculture · starvation