Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan was born on August 7, 1925, in Kumbakonam, Tanjore District, Madras Presidency, British India
He was an Indian agronomist, agricultural scientist, plant geneticist, administrator, and humanitarian
He served as the director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines
He was a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main architect of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice
His collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s
The United Nations Environment Programme has called him "the Father of Economic Ecology"
In 1999, he was one of three Indians, along with Gandhi and Tagore, on Time’s list of the 20 most influential Asian people of the 20th century
Swaminathan received numerous awards and honours, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, and the Albert Einstein World Science Award