Wolf Prize in Agriculture
Encyclopedia
The Wolf Prize in Agriculture is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation
in Israel
. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Chemistry
, Mathematics
, Medicine
, Physics
and the Arts
. The Prize is sometimes considered the equivalent of a "Nobel Prize in Agriculture", though the same description is also given to the World Food Prize
.
Wolf Foundation
The Wolf Foundation is a private not-for-profit organization in Israel established in 1975 by Dr. Ricardo Wolf, a German-born Jewish Cuban inventor and former Cuban ambassador to Israel.- Ricardo Wolf :...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Chemistry
Wolf Prize in Chemistry
The Wolf Prize in Chemistry is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics and Arts.-Laureates:...
, Mathematics
Wolf Prize in Mathematics
The Wolf Prize in Mathematics is awarded almost annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Arts...
, Medicine
Wolf Prize in Medicine
The Wolf Prize in Medicine is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Arts. The Prize is probably the third most prestigious award...
, Physics
Wolf Prize in Physics
The Wolf Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine and Arts. The Prize is often considered the most prestigious...
and the Arts
Wolf Prize in Arts
The Wolf Prize in Arts is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation, and has been awarded since 1981; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine and Physics, awarded since 1978...
. The Prize is sometimes considered the equivalent of a "Nobel Prize in Agriculture", though the same description is also given to the World Food Prize
World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.-The Prize:...
.
Laureates
| Year | Name | Nationality | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | George F. Sprague | for his outstanding research on the genetic amelioration of maize for human welfare. | |
| John Charles Walker | for his research in plant pathology, developing of disease-resistant varieties of major food plants. | ||
| 1979 | Jay L. Lush | for his outstanding and pioneering contributions to the application of genetics to livestock improvement; | |
| Kenneth Blaxter | for his fundamental contributions to the science and practice of ruminant nutrition and livestock production. | ||
| 1980 | Karl Maramorosch Karl Maramorosch Karl Maramorosch is an American virologist, entomologist and plant pathologist.- Life :Karl Maramorosch grew up in Kolomyja, Poland where he attended primary and secondary schools and from age of seven took piano lessons for twelve years, graduating from the Moniuszko Conservatory in... |
/ | for his pioneering and wide-ranging studies on interactions between insects and disease agents in plants. |
| 1981 | John O. Almquist | for his significant contributions to the application of artificial insemination to livestock improvement. | |
| Henry A. Lardy Henry A. Lardy Henry A. Lardy was a biochemist and professor emeritus in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1958... |
for his pioneering research on storage and preservation of spermatozoa thus enabling artificial insemination to become a universal practice. | ||
| Glenn W. Salisbury | for his outstanding achievements in basic and applied research on artificial insemination. | ||
| 1982 | Wendell L. Roelofs Wendell L. Roelofs Wendell L. Roelofs was the first researcher to characterize insect sex pheromone structures, developing microchemical techniques for the isolation and identification of pheromone components. Roelofs obtained his B.S. in chemistry in 1960 from Central College in Pella, Iowa and his Ph.D. in organic... |
for his fundamental chemical and biological research on pheromones and their practical use in insect control. | |
| 1983/4 | Don Kirkham Don Kirkham Don Kirkham was a distinguished soil scientist regarded as the founder of mathematical soil physics. His special interest was the flow of water through soils and drainage of agricultural land. He was awarded the 1983/4 Wolf Prize in Agriculture and the Robert E. Horton Medal in 1995.* Don and... Cornelis T. de Wit |
|
for their innovative contributions to the quantitative understanding of soil-water and other environmental interactions influencing crop growth and yield. |
| 1984/5 | Robert H. Burris Robert H. Burris Robert H. Burris was a professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1961... |
for his pioneering fundamental research on the mechanisms of biological nitrogen fixation and its application in crop production. | |
| 1986 | Ralph Riley Ralph Riley Sir Ralph Riley FRS was a British geneticist.He was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 1924 and served in the army during WWII... Ernest R. Sears |
|
for their fundamental research in cytogenetics of wheat, providing the basis for genetic improvement of cereal grains. |
| 1987 | Theodor O. Diener Theodor O. Diener Theodor Otto Diener is an American plant pathologist and was the first in the field to describe viroids.-Biography:... |
for his discovery and pioneering fundamental research on viroids and his applied work on viroid detection in crops. | |
| 1988 | Charles Thibault Ernest John Christopher Polge Christopher Polge Ernest John Christopher Polge CBE, FRS was an English biologist, most noted for his work in cryopreservation.... |
; |
for pioneering work in reproductive physiology including cell preservation, fertilization processes, egg biology and embryo manipulations for domestic animal improvement. |
| 1989 | Peter M. Biggs Michael Elliott |
|
for distinguished contributions to basic science and its successful translation into practice in the fields of animal health and crop protection Crop protection Crop protection is the branch of horticulture concerned with protecting crops from pests, weeds, disease and theft.It encompasses:* Pesticide-based approaches such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides... . |
| 1990 | Jozef Stefaan Schell Jozef Schell Jozef Stefaan Schell was a Belgian molecular biologist.Jozef Schell studied Zoology and microbiology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. From 1967 to 1995 he worked as a professor at the university... |
for his pioneering work in genetic transformation of plants, thereby opening up new horizons in basic plant science and breeding. | |
| 1991 | Shang Fa Yang Shang Fa Yang Shang Fa Yang was an acclaimed plant scientist and a professor at the University of California, Davis.- Birth and education :Shang Fa Yang was born in 1932 in Taiwan. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural chemistry at the National Taiwan University... |
 Republic of China / |
for his remarkable contributions to the understanding of the mechanism of biosynthesis, mode of action and applications of the plant hormone, Ethylene. |
| 1992 | No award | ||
| 1993 | John E. Casida John E. Casida John Edward Casida is an American entomologist, toxicologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.- Birth and education :... |
for his pioneering studies on the mode of action of insecticides, design of safer pesticides and contributions to the understanding of nerve and muscle function in insects. | |
| 1994/5 | Carl B. Huffaker Carl Barton Huffaker Carl Barton Huffaker was an American biologist, ecologist and agricultural entomologist.... Perry L. Adkisson |
|
for their contributions to the development and implementation of environmentally beneficial integrated pest management systems for the protection of agricultural crops. |
| 1995/6 | Morris Schnitzer Frank J. Stevenson |
|
for their pioneering contributions to our understanding of the chemistry of soil organic matter and its application to agriculture. |
| 1996/7 | Neal L. First Neal L. First - Birth and education :Neal L. First was born in 1930 in the United States. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University.- Research :... |
for his pioneering research in the reproductive biology of livestock. | |
| 1998 | Ilan Chet Ilan Chet Ilan Chet is an Israeli microbiologist and a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.- Early life :... Baldur R. Stefansson |
|
for their contributions to the environmentally safe development of world agriculture through innovative approaches in breeding and bio-control. |
| 1999 | No award | ||
| 2000 | Gurdev Khush Gurdev Khush Dr. Gurdev Singh Khush is an agronomist and geneticist who, along with mentor Dr. Henry Beachell, received the 1996 World Food Prize for unparalleled achievements in enlarging and improving the global supply of rice during a time of exponential population growth.In pursuit of ever-improved rice... |
for his extraordinary contribution to theoretical research in plant genetics, evolution and breeding especially of rice, with regard to food production and alleviation of hunger. | |
| 2001 | Roger N. Beachy Roger N. Beachy Roger N. Beachy is an American biologist and the founding president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri.- Birth, family and education :... James E. Womack James E. Womack James E. Womack is an American biologist and a professor at Texas A&M University.- Birth and education :James E. Womack was born in 1941 in the United States. He graduated with a BS in Mathematics Ed from Abilene Christian University in 1964... |
|
for the use of recombinant DNA technology, to revolutionize plant and animal sciences, paving the way for applications to neighboring fields. |
| 2002/3 | R. Michael Roberts R. Michael Roberts R. Michael Roberts is an American biologist and a Curators' Professor of animal science at the University of Missouri.- Birth and education :R. Michael Roberts was born in 1940 in the United Kingdom... Fuller W. Bazer Fuller W. Bazer Fuller W. Bazer is an American animal scientist and a Regents Fellow, Distinguished Professor, and O.D. Butler Chair in Animal Science at Texas A&M University.- Birth and education :... |
/ ; |
for discoveries of Interferon-tau and other pregnancy-associated proteins, which clarified the biological mystery of signaling between embryo and mother to maintain pregnancy, with profound effects on the efficiency of animal production systems, as well as human health and well-being. |
| 2004 | Yuan Longping Yuan Longping Yuan Longping is a Chinese agricultural scientist and educator, known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. His "hybrid rice" has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia—providing a robust food source in high famine risk areas. He is called "The... Steven D. Tanksley Steven D. Tanksley Steven Dale Tanksley is the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Plant breeding and Biometry and chair of the Genomics Initiative Task Force at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.-Education and career:... |
|
for innovative development of hybrid rice and discovery of the genetic basis of heterosis in this important food staple. |
| 2005 | No award | ||
| 2006/7 | Ronald L. Phillips Ronald L. Phillips Ronald L. Phillips is an American biologist and a Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota.- Birth and education :Ronald L. Phillips was born in 1940 in the United States. He completed his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University. After completing his master's degree, he completed his... Michel A. J. Georges Michel A. J. Georges Michel A. J. Georges is a Belgian biologist and a professor at the University of Liège.- Birth and education :Michel A. J. Georges was born in 1959 in Schoten, Belgium. He received his Doctor in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Liège in 1983, and his M.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the... |
|
for groundbreaking discoveries in genetics and genomics, laying the foundations for improvements in crop and livestock breeding, and sparking important advances in plant and animal sciences. |
| 2008 | John A. Pickett John A. Pickett John A. Pickett CBE DSc FRS is a British chemist who is noted for his work on insect pheromones.Pickett completed BSc and PhD degrees at the University of Surrey and was a post-doctoral researcher in organic chemistry at UMIST before joining the Brewing Research Foundation.In 1976, he moved to... James H. Tumlinson W. Joe Lewis |
|
for their remarkable discoveries of mechanisms governing plant-insect and plant-plant interactions. Their scientific contributions on chemical ecology have fostered the development of integrated pest management and significantly advanced agricultural sustainability. |
| 2009 | No award | ||
| 2010 | David Baulcombe | for his pioneering discovery of gene regulation by small inhibitory RNA molecules in plants, which is of profound importance not only for agriculture, but also for biology as a whole, including the field of medicine. | |
| 2011 | Harris A. Lewin | for highly significant discoveries, that contribute to both fundamental and practical aspects of animal agriculture. | |
| James R. Cook | for seminal discoveries in plant pathology and soil microbiology that impact crop productivity and disease management. | ||