2004 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee
March 25, 1914 – September 12, 2009
In a widely distributed video about Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, he retells a story about getting his “Green Revolution” started in Mexico. Conditions there were so poor that the only cultivation device available was a one-bottom plow with a harness designed to be strapped to a horse or mule. At the time, no one knew who Borlaug was or understood his mission to improve the food supply, so support was difficult to come by.
That changed when Borlaug strapped the harness on himself and, with the help of some locals, began plowing. After showing his dogged determination by pulling the plow, people’s attitudes shifted, and momentum began to build in Mexico.
Borlaug later shared that it was during his years of wrestling at Cresco High School and the University of Minnesota that he developed the tenacity that remained with him even at age 90. He often referenced the principles of “giving your all and never quitting,” as well as the coaching and team-building skills he learned in athletics, saying those lessons served him well throughout his life’s work. “Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons. I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough. Many times, I drew on that strength.”
Dr. Borlaug, while having an outstanding wrestling career, is being recognized by the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame not only for his athletic accomplishments but also for his contributions to the world. He helped bring hunger to its knees in Mexico, India, Pakistan, and other countries. According to The Atlantic Monthly, he “saved more lives than any other person who ever lived.”
Dr. Borlaug wrestled for Dave Bartelma at Cresco High School from 1929 to 1932 and was a state qualifier. He continued wrestling for Bartelma at the University of Minnesota at 145 pounds, where he reached the Big Ten semifinals. In addition to competing on the varsity team, Dr. Borlaug recalled receiving 25 cents from his coach to buy food before traveling by bus to rural schools to run wrestling clinics for students, coaches, and parents. “We’d put on a good show,” Borlaug recalled.
After completing his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota, Borlaug coached the Gopher freshman wrestling team, refereed high school matches, and worked for the U.S. Forest Service. While still a student, he helped his coach, Dick Bartelma, organize Minnesota’s high school wrestling program and later refereed the first regional and state tournaments.
After graduation, Dr. Borlaug developed a new dwarf wheat variety—shorter and higher-yielding than existing varieties. Following years of effort convincing political leaders worldwide to support food initiatives, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Borlaug remained active in research and teaching and traveled extensively to promote the fight against hunger.
His honors are too numerous to list, but in addition to the Nobel Prize, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Medal of Welfare, and numerous honorary doctorates.
Dr. Borlaug has also been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame, the University of Minnesota Hall of Fame, and the Iowa High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Dr. Borlaug was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 along with Rometo George “Rummy” Macias and Borlaug was introduced by Don Henry.
Additional Honors & Achievements
One of only seven people to have received all three awards
1970 Nobel Peace Prize
1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom
2007 Congressional Medal of Honor
_______________________________________
1970 Nobel Peace Prize presented by the Norwegian Nobel Committee
1970 Election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and nine Foreign Academies
1970 Aztec Eagle, Government of Mexico
1971 Outstanding Agricultural Achievement Award, World Farm Foundation, USA
1980 Jefferson Award, American Institute for Public Service
1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President Gerald Ford
1982 Distinguished Achievement Award in Food and Agriculture Sciences, Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, USA
1985 The Presidential World without Hunger Award, USA: Educator/Scientist category
1986 Established World Food Prize
1988 Americas Award, The Americas Foundation, USA
1997 Jefferson Lifetime Achievement Award, USA
1998 Altruistic Green Revolution Award, Indian Council of Agricultural Research
1999 Dedication of Norman E. Borlaug Center for Southern Crop Improvement, Texas A&M University
1999 Recognition Award for Contributions to World Wheat and Maize Research and Production, Republic of El Salvador
2000 Vannevar Bush Award, National Science Foundation, USA
2000 Memorial Centennial Medal of the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, Russia
2002 Public Welfare Medal, National Academy of Sciences
2002 Rotary International Award for World Understanding and Peace, Barcelona, Spain
2002 The Philip Hauge Abelson Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2003 Distinguished Achievements to Science and Medicine, American Council of Science and Health
2006 National Medal of Science presented by George W. Bush
2006 Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture created as part of the Texas A&M University System
2006 Padma Vibhushan in Science and Engineering, awarded by the Government of India
2007 Congressional Medal of Honor presented by George W. Bush
2007 Texas A&M honorary doctor of letters degree (Borlaug received more than 50 honorary degrees in his career)
2014 Only Scientist in National Statuary Hall in Washington DC
