Norman Borlaug and the Fight Against Hunger.
For most of his adult life, he has been known to the world as Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, agronomist and humanitarian. Known as the father of the "green revolution", Borlaug and his colleagues have spent decades advancing the war against hunger, fighting plant rust and diseases, and developing miracle grains--mostly corn and wheat--that have fed multitudes. .
Norman Ernest Borlaug was born in 1915 near Cresco, Iowa. He was always a good student, an excellent athlete, and a hard worker. From an early age, Norman was interested in forestry and agriculture. He was from a poor farming family but his parents and his grandfather always encouraged Norman to continue his education. After he graduated from high school in 1932, Norman went on to earn a degree in forestry from the University of Minnesota, where he had participated on both the football squad and the wrestling team. In fact, before one of his wrestling matches, Norman once had to undergo a rapid weight loss in order to qualify in a lower weight class. He endured five days without a meal and several hours in the sweatbox just before the weigh-in. Having been successful, he took on his opponent and won. However, it was an ugly victory and he was ashamed of his performance. It was an explosive, uncontrolled, angry savage who had fought that fight and he believed he had behaved like an animal. From that experience, he learned a "primal rule of nature", as he called it. "I was starving, and I found out that a hungry man is worse than a hungry beast." It was the catalyst that motivated his understanding and urgency to prepare for the lifelong war he would wage against hunger in the world. Borlaug married Margaret Gibson, whom he met in college, in late 1937. He worked for a short time as a forest ranger, but continued his studies at the University and obtained his masters degree and, finally, a PhD.
