Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Noted scientist and biographer Noel Vietmeyer will be a featured speaker in three public presentations set for Oct. 16 at Kansas State University.

Vietmeyer's appearance at the university coincides with World Food Day. All presentations are free and open to the public and include:

* 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. -- Panel discussion, "Meeting World Food Needs: Challenges and Opportunities," Forum Hall, K-State Student Union.

* 4-5 p.m. -- Seminar, "Our Daily Bread: The Essential Norman Borlaug," 1014 Throckmorton Hall.

* 7-8 p.m. -- Alpha Zeta Lecture, K-State Alumni Center ballroom.

Also, Kansas State University's President Kirk Schulz and Provost April Mason will make an official proclamation of World Food Day on behalf of the university.

Vietmeyer has published the biography of Norman Borlaug, a plant scientist whose improvements in wheat varieties and crop management in the late 20th century is said to have saved 1 billion lives.

Borlaug is one of seven people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. He is widely recognized as "The Father of the Green Revolution" -- the term given to a series of science and technology improvements that increased agriculture production worldwide.

Vietmeyer, who worked for the National Academy of Sciences, met Borlaug in the early 1980s, and the men worked and traveled together frequently.

Now retired from the National Academy of Sciences, Vietmeyer is making it his new career to bring recognition to Borlaug, who many consider to have had the same impact on the world as Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel and Mother Teresa.

The day after his visit to the university, Vietmeyer will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to take part in the dedication of the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates on the 25th anniversary of the first World Food Prize, an award created by Borlaug.