Texas A&M University Agriculture and Monsanto Company have announced the creation of the Borlaug-Monsanto Chair for Plant Breeding and International Crop Improvement. The chair is named in honor of Dr. Norman Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in plant breeding.

Funding for the chair comes from a $2.5 million endowment from Monsanto.

The announcement came Jan. 9 at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans.

Of the endowment, $2 million will be used to fund the Borlaug-Monsanto Chair. Borlaug is a distinguished professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M.

The remaining $500,000 will endow an assistantship fund to support graduate-level research by young scientists pursuing careers in plant breeding, cotton crop improvement and production. These assistantships will also be used to support cotton research focused on crop improvement and production systems in the U.S.

"As father of the ‘Green Revolution,' Borlaug taught the world how to use agricultural technology to save lives and improve living conditions," said Dr. Robert Fraley, chief technology officer for Monsanto Company.

"Plant breeding was the engine for this tremendous change. We are honored to work with Borlaug and Texas A&M University to promote additional plant breeding research that will help farmers produce food, fiber and fuel to meet growing world demand."

"We consider this a tremendous opportunity to continue Dr. Borlaug's legacy," said Dr. Elsa Murano, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture at Texas A&M. "This will enhance our academic programs enormously, and it will make significant contributions to science through its research capabilities."

"This wonderful gift from Monsanto will enable the Borlaug Institute, Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension to realize the vision of Dr. Borlaug for world service in agricultural science," said Dr. Edwin Price, associate vice chancellor and director of the Norman E. Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M.

"For me, it's one of the most important steps forward in linking international agriculture and agricultural research with Dr. Borlaug's vision," he said.

"There is little doubt that this will position Texas A&M to better research and improve our training of students for the Texas cotton industry," said Dr. David Baltensperger, head of the soil and crop science department at Texas A&M.

Borlaug earned a bachelor's degree in forestry from the University of Minnesota in 1937. He worked for the U.S. Forestry Service in Massachusetts and Idaho before and after graduation, and then returned to the University of Minnesota to earn a master's degree in 1939 and a doctorate in 1942.

He began working as a geneticist and plant pathologist for the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production program in Mexico in 1944. In that capacity, he organized and directed the program, which was a joint undertaking by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation.

This program involved scientific research in genetics, plant pathology, entomology, agronomy and science and cereal technology.

His work centered on increasing and diversifying crop yields in regions of the world where agriculture was less developed than in the U.S., therefore being instrumental in the so-called "Green Revolution" in the 1960s.
In 1970, Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize for the development of high-yielding wheat varieties. He also was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Presidential World without Hunger Medal in 1985. He also received the National Medal of Science from President George Bush in 2005.

The scientist who fills the chair position will be expected to:
- Lead in creating an international agricultural research capability, particularly in plant breeding, at Texas A&M.
- Teach courses in international agricultural development and food security.
- Work with agricultural scientists around the world.
- Lead and guide junior faculty and scientists in international agricultural research and scholarship.
- Represent Texas A&M agricultural research throughout the world.

Further information on Texas A&M Agriculture is available from http://agriculture.tamu.edu . 

Monsanto provides technology-based solutions and agricultural products to improve farm productivity and food quality. For more information on Monsanto, see http://www.monsanto.com. 

Philanthropic gifts in support of Texas A&M Agriculture are facilitated by the Texas A&M Foundation. For more information on the foundation, go to http://giving.tamu.edu.

Writer: Edith Chenault