For saving millions of people from death by starvation, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

The world's foremost agronomist led the "Green Revolution," immense strides in agriculture which produced food for underfed, undernourished nations. Specifically, Dr. Borlaug developed high-yielding varieties of wheat, which produced eight or nine bushels to the acre where only one had grown before. His success with wheat contributed to the development of a new "miracle rice" in the Orient with the same life-saving effects.

Norman Borlaug was a pioneer in wrestling, too. He competed for Cresco High School in Iowa and for the University of Minnesota, where he reached the Big Ten semifinals. Completing a master’s degree and doctorate from the U of M, Borlaug coached Gopher freshman wrestling, refereed high school wrestling, and worked for the U.S. Forest Service. While still in college, he helped his coach, Dick Bartelma, organize the Minnesota high school program, and then refereed the first regional and state tournaments.

He then went to Mexico to study genetics, plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology, agronomy, soil science and cereal technology. The product of this work? A high-yield, disease-resistant wheat that saved millions from starvation and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. He is said to have launched the “Green Revolution” in agriculture.

He earned degrees in forestry and plant pathology at Minnesota, and has been awarded 31 honorary doctoral degrees from universities in 13 countries. Dr. Borlaug was presented the Aztec Eagle by the government of Mexico in 1970, America's Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Presidential World Without Hunger Award in 1985.

He is a Life Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation, a member of the National Agricultural Hall of Fame and an Honorary Life Member of the American Society of Agronomy. He has served on the President's Commission on World Hunger and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.