born March 25, 1914, Cresco, Iowa, U.S.
U.S. agricultural scientist and plant pathologist.
He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. As a researcher with the Rockefeller Foundation in Mexico (194460), he developed strains of grain that tripled Mexican wheat production. Later his dwarf wheats raised harvests in Pakistan and India by 60%, ending the food shortages that had plagued the subcontinent in the 1960s. For helping lay the groundwork of the Green Revolution , he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1970. Afterward he worked on improving crop yields in Africa and taught at Texas A&M University.