Norman Borlaug, RIP

Normal Borlaug was the father of the “Green Revolution” in agriculture. Yesterday he died at the age of 95. No alumnus of the University of Minnesota, as Borlaug was (’37, Ph.D. ’42), ever performed greater benefactions for humanity. For his efforts he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Borlaug may have saved more lives than any man in history, as Jonah Goldberg observed. Borlaug was frequently referred to as “the man who fed the world,” the heading of a good Wall Street Journal column by Ronald Bailey explaining how Borlaug earned the title (Bailey returns here to mourn Borlaug’s passing today). In 1997 Gregg Easterbrook dubbed Borlaug the “Forgotten benefactor of humanity” (via Instapundit). RIP.