Born in 1950, Gebisa Ejeta grew up in a one-room thatched hut with a mud floor, in a rural village in west-central Ethiopia.

Walking 20 kilometers every Sunday night to attend school during the week

Ejeta’s high academic standing earned him financial assistance and entrance to the secondary-level Jimma Agricultural and Technical School, which had been established by Oklahoma State University under the U.S. government’s Point Four Program. After graduating with distinction, Ejeta entered Alemaya College (also established by OSU and supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development) in eastern Ethiopia. He received his bachelor’s degree in plant science in 1973.

In 1973, his college mentor introduced Ejeta to a renowned sorghum researcher, Dr. John Axtell of Purdue University, who invited him to assist in collecting sorghum species from around the country

Ejeta entered Purdue in 1974, earning his Ph.D. in plant breeding and genetics.

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Very interesting find, BobbyRutan.

Because I served with the United States Army Security Agency, now the National Security Agency, in Asmara, Eritrea, Ethiopia, I have taken the liberty of forwarding your excellent clip to my brother members of the Kagnew Station Army Security Agency Guard Group who are quite familiar with Dr. Gebisa Ejeta and his work.

On behalf of all of us who served there, thank you for bringing this to light.

Needless to say, we are all pleased that Dr. Gebisa Ejeta will be the recipient of the 2009 World Food Prize