QUALITY OF LIFE AWARDS TO HONOR NORMAN BORLAUG AND NANCY LOPEZ AT UNITED NATIONS DEC. 4

AUBURN - The 2006 laureate at the 13th annual International Quality of Life Awards at the United Nations in New York, Monday, Dec. 4, will be Norman Ernest Borlaug, a Nobel Prize winner known as the father of the “Green Revolution,” the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s.

In addition, the 2006 College of Human Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to celebrated golf champion Nancy Lopez Knight.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Auburn University Provost John Heilman will participate in the IQLA ceremony.

Presenting the awards, given annually by Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences, will be UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman and former professional baseball player Ray Knight.

Borlaug is a distinguished professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M University, Medal of Freedom recipient, Nobel laureate and founder of the World Food Prize.

When Borlaug received the Nobel Prize in 1970, the chairman of the Nobel committee said, “More than any other single person of this age, [he] has helped to provide bread for a hungry world. We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.” Borlaug was the only individual ever to have received the Nobel Prize for contributing to world peace through dramatic advancements in agriculture.

With a Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942, Borlaug spent the next 20 years developing strains of semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat which he introduced, along with modern agricultural production techniques, to much of the developing world to vastly improve food production.

His collective increases in food production have been labeled the “Green Revolution,” and Borlaug is often credited with saving a billion people from starvation. Borlaug continues to work tirelessly to save millions from starvation and suffering.

Lopez Knight is one of the most celebrated players in the history of women’s golf. She joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1977 and became an overnight sensation. She is a three-time winner of the LPGA Championship (1978, 1985 and 1989); was named the LPGA Player of the Year four times (1978, 1979, 1985 and 1988); and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame at the age of 30, the youngest qualifier ever. In 1997, Lopez Knight won her 48th career title and in 2002 completed her final full season on the LPGA Tour.

Lopez Knight is married to former professional baseball player Ray Knight, the 1986 World Series MVP. They reside in Albany, Ga., and are the parents of three daughters, two of whom attend Auburn University.

In 2004, the Knights formed “Heartfelt Support,” a national education campaign to inspire living a healthy life after a heart attack.

“It is a great privilege to honor Norman Borlaug,” said June Henton, dean of the College of Human Sciences. “As is true for each IQLA Laureate, their work reflects the spirit of the award by promoting the respect and dignity of all citizens around the world.

“We also take great pleasure in presenting the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award to Nancy Lopez for her outstanding achievements in her professional career, and her efforts to give back to the community.”

AU’s College of Human Sciences launched the International Quality of Life Awards in 1994 as an annual occasion to honor people and partnerships who make significant contributions - in the spirit of the college’s own mission - to individual, family and community well-being and quality of life locally and internationally.

Past honorees include Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of Capetown, South Africa; Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; Don Logan, chairman, Media and Communications Group, Time Warner; Lawrence Klein, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate in Economics; and Catherine Bertini, executive director, United Nations World Food Programme.

More than 250 people are expected to attend this year’s ceremony, which benefits the Fund for Global Understanding. The fund underwrites the awards and supports international academic programming at Auburn University.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

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