From the Nominator

Rattan Lal was the cover subject of the winter 2019 issue of Ohio State Alumni Magazine. Long recognized as among the top 1% of the most frequently cited agricultural researchers in the world, Lal has a rich and compelling personal and career story. Over 10 pages, this in-depth profile illuminates the ways in which he has dedicated his life to addressing climate change, food security, and water quality through the study of no-till farming. Writer Todd Jones chronicles his endeavors as a soil scientist—including nearly two decades in Nigeria during a time of political upheaval—and his deep and lasting connections with Ohio State, where he earned his doctorate and is in his 33rd year as a faculty member in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Jones also dives into Lal’s extraordinary personal history, starting in a small home with a dirt floor and no electricity. He tracks Lal’s rise and increasing recognition around the globe, including his contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and his receipt in 2019 of the Japan Prize, one of the most prestigious honors in science and technology. Last year, Lal donated of his total $540,000 prize from the Japan Prize and two other prestigious agricultural awards to an endowment supporting the university’s Carbon Management Sequestration Center, which he founded in 2000 and still directs at age 75.