Evangelina Villegas (born 1924 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a cereal biochemist whose work with maize led to the development of high-quality protein maize (QPM). She and her colleague, Dr. Surinder Vasal, shared the 2000 World Food Prize for this achievement. 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, México D.F. or simply México, pronounced /mexiko/ in IPA) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Mexico. ... The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. ...

Education and early career

Villegas obtained a B.Sc. in chemistry and biology at the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City. She began her career in 1950 as a chemist and researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Nutrition and at the Special Studies Office, which was co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock and later was converted into the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). While at the Special Studies Office, she initiated the Wheat Industrial Quality Chemical Laboratory in 1957. Chemistry (derived from alchemy) is the science of matter at or near the atomic scale. ... Biology is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Rockefeller Foundation is a charitable organization based in New York City. ... The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center – better known by its Spanish-language acronym CIMMYT, from Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo – is a Mexico-based research institute dedicated to the development of improved varieties of wheat and maize. ...

Villegas continued her education in the United States, earning a 1962 M.S. in cereal technology from Kansas State University and a 1967 Ph.D. in cereal chemistry and breeding from North Dakota State University. Kansas State University (sometimes referred to as K-State) is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States. ... North Dakota State University (NDSU) is an American state-supported university and the second largest school in the 11 campus North Dakota University System. ...

Development of QPM

In 1967, Villegas rejoined CIMMYT, where she worked until 1989 and conducted her most significant research. From 1972, Villegas was responsible for the evaluation, development, and adaptation of a chemical methodology to screen large numbers of small samples for industrial wheat quality and for maize nutritional and protein quality. This methodology, in conjunction with the breeding work done by Vasal, allowed for the development of QPM in the 1980s.

Villegas also served as a maize and wheat quality consultant for national research programs throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia, mentoring and training young scientists across the developing world. Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...

Villegas retired from CIMMYT in 1989. Since then, she has consulted on quality protein maize chemical evaluation for Sasakawa Global 2000, an international organization that works to improve farm technology in Africa.

Since 2001, Villegas has been a member of the Mexican Polytechnic Group, a civil association focused on promoting and supporting science and technology in Mexico.

Honors and recognition

Besides being the first woman awarded the World Food Prize, Villegas has been recognized by several organizations. Mexico’s National Institute for Agricultural Research honored her in 1966, the National Polytechnic Institute named her a Distinguished Former Student in 1972, and she was honored by the National Polytechnic Institute’s School of Biological Sciences in 1978. The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. ...

Former President Ernesto Zedillo presented her with the Mexican Woman of the Year award in 2000. In 2001 Dr. Villegas was named to Alpha Delta Kappa’s prestigious list of International Women of Distinction and received the prestigious Lazaro Cardenas Medal from the National Polytechnic Institute. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Chapingo Agricultural Autonomous University in Mexico in 2002. Term of office: 1 December 1994 – 1 December 2000 Preceded by: Carlos Salinas de Gortari Succeeded by: Vicente Fox Quesada Date of birth: 27 December 1951 Place of birth: Mexico City Profession: Economist First Lady: Nilda Patricia Velasco Núñez Political Party: PRI Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (born...