The University of Alberta banner is flying at half-mast from October 5-9, 2023 in remembrance of Dr. Monkombu Sambasivan (M.S.) Swaminathan.
Dr. Monkombu Sambasivan (M.S.) Swaminathan, the Father of India’s Green Revolution and eminent agricultural scientist, passed away on September 28, 2023 at his home in Chennai, India. He was a visionary, whose enormous contributions to enhance sustainable food security — including being instrumental in the implementation of high-yield seeds in India in the 1960s — significantly reduced famine in the country and influenced change in India and the rest of the world.
Dr. Swaminathan’s efforts were recognized by the University of Alberta with an Honorary Doctorate of Science on October 7, 2010, at which time University Chancellor Linda Hughes remarked that his “legacy reminds all of us of the power of one person to uplift an entire society.” The U of A community was grateful for the opportunity to hear from him as he delivered the convocation address, the Bentley Lecture, and the Lester Pearson Memorial Lecture when he visited Canada to receive his degree.
During the Bentley Lecture, Dr. Swaminathan expressed that “Partnership helps you to purchase time. Through complementary expertise, you can accelerate progress.” U of A’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences cherished the opportunity to partner with Dr. Swaminathan and the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on a Canadian International Food Security Research Fund project to alleviate poverty and malnutrition in agrobiodiversity hotspots of India. Indeed, this collaboration would not have been possible without Dr. Swaminathan’s vision and guidance. The lives and careers of the researchers and students who were fortunate to work on this project were truly changed as a result of their interactions with him.