CAST Lifetime Achievement Award: Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn - CAST - The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology

Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn to Receive CAST’s Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award

Presentation during the World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa

October 22, 2025 • 7:00 a.m. CT • Des Moines, Iowa

Registration is now open — limited spaces available.

Event Overview

CAST will present its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation, in recognition of his six decades of leadership in diplomacy, agricultural development, and global food security.

The ceremony will take place Wednesday, October 22, 2025, at 7:00 a.m. CT in Des Moines, Iowa, during the World Food Prize events.

Why this matters: The CAST Lifetime Achievement Award completes CAST’s awards continuum—alongside the Borlaug CAST Communication Award (mid-career) and the CAST Science Communication Scholarship (students)—spotlighting leaders at every stage who connect agricultural science, communication, and impact.

Dress code: Business or business-casual
Format: Presentation + brief remarks; light networking
Audience: Leaders in ag science, policy, industry, philanthropy, and media

Please note: Attendance at the CAST Lifetime Achievement Award Breakfast is limited to individuals registered for official World Food Prize Dialogue sessions or affiliated side events. Seating is limited and registration is required.

Remarks & Quotes

“Having escorted Dr. Norman Borlaug to a CAST event 25 years ago, I know first-hand the deep respect and admiration he had for the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology… From my very first Foreign Service assignment introducing IR8 ‘miracle rice’ in the Mekong Delta in 1968, to my leadership of the World Food Prize Foundation, agricultural science and technology have been the constant thread in my work. This award affirms the theme that has guided my life: peace through agricultural science and technology.”

Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that Ken Quinn is receiving this award. Anyone who comes in contact with Ken knows that his passion for life, combined with his expertise in worldly affairs, brings him to the forefront of what this Award is all about… My wife, Chris, and I applaud him for being the recipient of this great honor.”

Ambassador Terry Branstad

“Ambassador Kenneth Quinn’s lifelong dedication to advancing global food security, agricultural science, and international collaboration embodies the very ideals of CAST’s mission… It is a profound honor for CAST to recognize him with the organization’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Chris Boomsma, CAST CEO

About Ambassador Quinn

Kenneth M. Quinn is the former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia and President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation. Across nearly six decades, he has advanced agricultural development and global food security—from introducing “miracle rice” in Vietnam during the Green Revolution to building the World Food Prize into a globally recognized honor and convening the Borlaug Dialogue. A fluent Vietnamese speaker and one of the most decorated U.S. Foreign Service officers of his generation, Quinn has been recognized for humanitarian leadership and courage, including the Secretary of State’s Award for Heroism and Valor and the Iowa Award, the state’s highest citizen honor.

Led the World Food Prize Foundation beginning January 1, 2000, growing the Laureate Award Ceremony, Borlaug Dialogue, and Global Youth Institute.
Guided the $29.8 million restoration of the Des Moines Public Library into the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates (achieved LEED Platinum).
Chaired the Dr. Norman E. Borlaug Statue Committee, unveiling the statue in the U.S. Capitol on March 25, 2014; received the Iowa Award on May 30, 2014.
Foreign Service roles included: USAID rural development advisor in the Mekong Delta; National Security Council staff; Narcotics Counselor at the U.S. mission to the UN in Vienna; Chair, U.S. Inter-agency Task Force on POW/MIAs; Director of Iowa SHARES humanitarian campaign.
First to report (1974) on the genocidal policies of the Khmer Rouge; later, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, advanced an agriculture + rural roads strategy contributing to the final eradication of the Khmer Rouge.
Interpreted Vietnamese for President Gerald Ford; negotiated the first U.S. entry into a Vietnamese prison to search for POW/MIAs; part of the first U.S. team to access a former Soviet prison in Russia.
Honors include: Secretary of State’s Award for Heroism and Valor; only civilian to receive the U.S. Army Air Medal for participation in combat operations in Vietnam; only Foreign Service officer to receive three AFSA Rivkin/Herter Awards for intellectual courage.
Education: B.A. Loras College; M.A. Marquette University; Ph.D. University of Maryland.
Family: He and his wife, Le Son, have three adult children.