While many only know Norman Borlaug as the Nobel Peace Prize-winning mind behind the Green Revolution, or one of the University of Minnesota’s most renowned alumni, Don Henry (UMN PhD ‘71) knew Norman Borlaug as family. It is this connection that led Don, his wife Sandy, and their son Drew to create in Borlaug’s honor the Vaala-Henry Endowment (In Support of Norman E. Borlaug Fellowships in International Agriculture).
Don’s mother Lillian (Vaala) Henry, her siblings, and their first cousin Norman grew up on neighboring family farms near Cresco, Iowa, where Norman (and, later, Lillian's children) went to high school. Their broader group of siblings and cousins enjoyed family get-togethers, baseball games, church activities, and other traditional activities of the Norwegian-American community in the Midwest. Even after growing up, the cousins remained close and visited as adults, including visits with Borlaug when he would return home amid his global work travels.
While Lillian did not stay on the family farm all her life, she and her husband Dave returned regularly with their children Don, Ted, and Ann, all of whom grew to see the Vaala farm and its family as a second home. As Don later started his own family with his wife Sandy and son Drew, he brought them to the Vaala farm, where both the land and people became important to their lives.
Though he was not yet aware of Norman's life trajectory and achievements, Don followed in some of Norman's early footsteps. After graduating Cresco High School in Iowa, Don attended the University of Minnesota, wrestled as an undergraduate student, and ultimately obtained a PhD (Educational Psychology '71).
Don, and often Sandy and Drew, cherished their own opportunities to spend time with Borlaug in his later career, from attending family reunions and gatherings, various University of Minnesota celebrations and speaking opportunities, World Food Prize Events and accompanying Borlaug to events like the Legislature’s passage of an annual Norman Borlaug Day in Minnesota, which Don originally conceptualized and lobbied for in partnership with CFANS. The Henrys also engaged in a number of other significant efforts to promote the Borlaug legacy.
The Vaala farm was ultimately inherited by the three Henry families and a cousin Marcia. Don’s family chose a special way to pay it forward. By using funds from selling the farm they established the Vaala-Henry Endowment at the University of Minnesota. In this way, they could both memorialize the Vaalas’ and Norman’s childhoods on the farms in a place that was meaningful to Norman’s life and career, and also fund a better future for the next generations of farmers by facilitating the research and study of plant diseases for future generations. Extended family, friends, and others also contributed to the fund at its inception. The Henry family, and perhaps others, continue to make annual donations.
While it is no longer possible to visit the Vaala farm, the Borlaug family farm now operates as a space for education through the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation. A number of our graduate students and faculty have paid tribute by visiting, both for education and as guest-teachers on Borlaug Inspire Days.
Over several years the Vaala-Henry Endowment has provided financial support to plant pathology graduate students at the University of Minnesota who share Norman Borlaug’s commitment to researching small-grain cereal crops on an international scale. To learn more about this fund and other funds, visit our Funds page.