Dr. Evengelina Villegas (October 24, 1924 – April 24, 2017) was an agricultural scientist born in 1924 in Mexico City, Mexico. She received her BA in Chemistry and Biology from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) of Mexico. Between her BA and MS, she worked as a chemist for Mexico’s National Institute of Nutrition and the Special Studies Office in 1950. She received her MSc (1962) in Cereal Technology from Kansas State University (KSU) and PhD (1967) in Cereal Chemistry from North Dakota State University (NDSU) before joining the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico in 1967.
During her time there, she collaborated with Dr. Surinder Vasal on the development of a protein-rich maize with worldwide appeal. This would lead to the creation of the quality protein maize (QPM) which had more lysine and tryptophan. QPM entered worldwide circulation in the early 1990s and led to almost 10 billion acres of maize planted worldwide, at the start of the 2000s. In 1992, Dr. Villages was named as Head of the General Service Laboratory, where they would go on to establish several variants of tropical and subtropical maize lines. Alongside this, she would go on to consult and help establish laboratories for nearly all Latin American countries, alongside India, Thailand, Egypt, Ghana, and the Philippines. Dr. Evangeline Villegas became the first woman to receive the World Food Prize in 2000 for her role in developing the quality protein maize (QPM), now used worldwide for both animal feed and commercial food products. This also addressed malnutrition.
The Maize Quality Laboratory in Mexico City would be established to commemorate her contributions after her passing in 2017.
REFERENCES:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20170426150825/http://www.cimmyt.org/press_release/tribute-to-evangelina-villegas-co-creator-of-quality-protein-maize-2000-world-food-prize-laureate/
- https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/20002009_laureates/2000_vasal__villegas/
- https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/features/vassalvillegas.htm
- https://www.womeninagscience.org/post/women-who-revolutionized-ag-2
- https://www.cimmyt.org/news/cimmyt-renames-lab-to-honor-evangelina-villegas-world-food-prize-laureate/
- https://mujeresconciencia.com/2017/12/12/evangelina-villegas-moreno-la-bioquimica-desarrollo-la-qpm-ciencia-la-desnutricion
