Iowa-native Norman Borlaug received a Congressional Gold Medal at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The 1970 Nobel Peace Prize-winner received this highest civilian honor from the U.S. Legislature for his work in agriculture.

Borlaug, 91, who is also known for helping found the Green Revolution, an effort to lessen the severity of famine in the 1970s.

“Borlaug and the other founders of the Green Revolution won the greatest battle of any war we’ve ever fought,” according to the Plant Sciences Institute, of which Borlaug is a member.

Borlaug got his start in 1944 helping farmers in Mexico, and went on to introduce more disease-resistant crops to African and Asian countries. He later created the World Food Prize to motivate others to help improve the availability and quality of food internationally, according to the Plant Sciences Institute’s Web site.

“The guy is amazing,” said Stephen Howell, director of the Plant Sciences Institute. “He inspired plant breeders to develop crops best suited for high productivity.”

Howell also said Borlaug is “absolutely” deserving of the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Anyone who’s saved as many lives as he has deserves this recognition,” Howell said.

Patrick Schnable, professor of agronomy and director of the Center for Plant Genomics, said the award was a well-deserved honor.

“I was delighted; he made enormous contributions to human welfare worldwide with his work in the Green Revolution,” he said.

Schnable said Borlaug’s impact on agriculture is most significant on the global scale.

“It is very fair to say that he saved millions of lives,” he said. “The Green Revolution succeeded beyond I think most people’s expectations in averting [starvation in the developing world].”

Schnable said Borlaug serves as an adviser to the Plant Sciences Institute. He said they have benefited from his global perspective.

“He’s a very approachable person,” he said.

Schnable said Borlaug was humble, modest and curious.

“He saved millions of lives . without any exaggeration,” he said. “There are few people in the world that have made that kind of contribution.”