RICE KING: Yuan Longping

Father of Hybrid Rice

The yield of a hybrid rice breed developed by Yuan Longping, one of China's leading agricultural scientists, has exceeded 900 kg per mu (0.067 hectare), a new world record for rice output. Yuan, dubbed China's "father of hybrid rice," started developing hybrid rice in the 1960s as part of the country's efforts to combat its starvation problem. He developed China's first hybrid rice variety in 1974, which increased grain output by 20 percent. Yuan was awarded the World Food Prize in 2004 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Inspiration: Nobel Laureate and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

 Women Sweep Nobel Prize

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and two other women jointly won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for their work on women's rights. President Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Roberta Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman of Yemen were honored for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.