Recently there was a TV press event to cover an award presentation -- President Bush was about to honor Norman Borlaug for his lifetime of service aimed at alleviating world hunger by presenting him with the National Medal of Science. When the presentation was slightly delayed for a few minutes, the TV coverage went on to other things. The presentation wasn't covered later, either, that I noticed-- just sort of got shuffled aside.
Here's the beginning of University of Minnesota's coverage of the event:Norm Borlaug is a hero. As far as I'm concerned there must have been a bunch of heroes working with him for him to have made good progress. The thing is, there is such a lot to do. The food labs have worked out ways to add rich protein to foodstuffs that will save lives. The logistics of getting this food to the people takes genius in the political and business sector, and the persistence to keep at it must come from someone with a true conscience and a clear vision. Such people have been struggling in this arena in research labs and in board rooms and in fish factories and in government agencies, and they are all heroes as far as I am concerned.
On July 17, 2007, Norman Borlaug received the Congressional Gold Medal, joining Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel, and Nelson Mandela as the only people to have been honored with this award, the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Read the rest of this interesting article at this University of Minnesota link:
And here is Another link covering the event.
The man I sometimes call my "doppleganger" worked on Norman Borlaug's project when he was a young scientist! It was this effort that directed him into the field of food science with a heart to feed the hungry of the world. The work started in that lab mattered so much to my husband it sent him all over the world, including Chile, Peru, Tasmania, Iceland, Illinois, and New York city, hunting down ways to produce protein rich material that could be made available to the world's hungry people. The effort is not over, but Borlaug lives on, now in his 90's, and hopefully he continues to inspire young scientists to keep their shoulders to the mission.
When I saw the announcement of the TV coverage that didn't happen, I searched Borlaug's name in Amazon.com and found a few used books about him-- old ones that were a nice surprise for my husband. I don't hear a lot of tooting of his own horn around here, but I know he is very proud to have worked with this man, and very moved that he is being honored, whether anyone notices or not. It makes him inspired all over again to read the story.
It's wonderful that Borlaug has spent his life haunted by world hunger, and that he wasn't waiting for adulation in order to pursue a solution. He's getting some awards, but did anyone really notice? We did. Not that Norman Borlaug spends a lot of time thinking about honors -- he's thinking about feeding the hungry!
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