他曾宣布袁隆平获奖，还和习氏父子都握过手！——我眼中的世界粮食奖主席奎因大使

世界粮食奖主席奎因——

他曾宣布袁隆平获奖，还和习氏父子都握过手！

 

(本文原载美国亚裔新闻（AANB）2016年5月30日）

 

“我是少有的与您和您的父亲都握过手的美国人。”2012年，习近平访美时，肯尼斯•奎因大使（Amb. Kenneth M. Quinn)这句话让习近平大为惊讶。这位唯一被授予美国空军奖章的平民，从美国驻柬埔寨大使，到现任世界粮食奖主席，他的经历令人感叹。

2016年5月24日，美国爱荷华华人协会一行5人参加了由奎因大使主持的小型午餐会。埃姆斯高中十年级学生蓝以青（Merrina Lan)在会后写来中英文双语文章，讲述了她眼中的奎因大使。

我（左）与奎因大使（右）于午餐会的合影（来源：美国亚裔新闻局）

Me(left) and Amb.Quinn(Right) at the luncheon(Photo Credit: Asian American News Bureau)

   

“亲爱的Merrina，很高兴能和你在昨天的午餐中畅聊并让你对我讲的故事产生兴趣。我希望在今后的世界粮食奖的活动中再次见到你。祝你高中学业顺利！———Kenneth M.Quinn.”

2016年5月27日，我收到的这封邮件来自一位非同寻常的领导者：肯内斯·奎因。

     他是唯一被授予美国空军奖章（US Army Air Medal）的平民，他曾担任美国驻柬埔寨前任大使，从事外交工作长达32年，他是现任的世界粮食奖主席, 并于2004年3月29日在美国国务院举行的仪式上宣布 “杂交水稻之父”袁隆平教授获得一年一度的世界粮食奖。奎因大使称赞这位水稻专家“为大大提高亚洲和非洲亿万人民的粮食安全取得了突破性的科学成就”^[1]。

     世界粮食奖（World Food Prize）设立于1986年，其总部位于美国爱荷华州得梅因市。世界粮食奖基金会每年会举行一次颁奖典礼，授予“为人类提供营养丰富、数量充足的粮食作出突出贡献的个人”。此奖被看作是国际农业领域的最高荣誉^[2]。 

       5月24日中午，在美国爱荷华州华人协会执行主席燕晓哲先生引见下，我们一行五人，在爱荷华州首府得梅因市阮氏大厦的顶层俱乐部餐厅，参加了由奎因大使主持的小型午餐会。奎因大使生动地讲述了他的故事。

     在越战期间，奎因大使成为了美国派往越南的千万青年中的一员。他在越南学会了开飞机，说越南话，心地善良的他更多地关注到当地人民的生活。贫困的农民、贫瘠的山地，人们在穷困边缘挣扎度日。

     慢慢地，他发现，修路最为重要。每当修建新路之后，就会很快解决当地农民的衣食短缺问题，战士们的战斗力也能得以提高。这个规律使他意识到交通与粮食有着十分紧密的关系。

       越战结束后，美国政府为嘉奖他的突出贡献，给他提供了就读哈佛大学的全额奖学金，而奎因大使却选择留在满目疮痍的越南，后来成为了美国驻柬埔寨大使。

     那时的他，原本以为自己将要在富丽堂皇的宫殿里完成尊贵的外交任务，结果却发现自己的办公场所只是几间荒芜的农村房子。

     说到这时，他和大家一起开怀大笑，笑容中饱含着一份幽默，更有一份自豪。 

      他在柬埔寨做了5年大使后，回到美国继续从事外交工作。上个世纪七十年代，中美外交关系逐渐缓和。1979年，奎因大使与当时的爱荷华州州长雷伊先生一起访问了中国。时任国务院副总理的邓小平会见了他，之后，奎因大使又去了广东省，见到了时任广东省省长的习仲勋。

习仲勋（右）访美时与当时的爱荷华州州长雷伊(左）交谈（来源：央视网）

     一年之后，中国派遣一些省级领导到爱荷华州回访雷伊州长，其中包括习仲勋^[3]。奎因大使与习仲勋探讨了农业改革模式，强调了农民自主管理土地的重要性。他提出的方针很大程度上影响了中国之后的农村改革，改革后的中国农业生产率大大提高，供给了十几亿的人口^[4]。       

      2012年，时任国家副主席的习近平来到爱荷华州参观世界粮食奖的颁奖大厅。在奎因大使与习近平握手时，笑着说：“我是少有的与您和您的父亲都握过手的美国人。” 习近平大为惊讶，高兴地和大使交谈。

      奎因大使在即将退休时，有人举荐他担任世界粮食奖主席的职务，他毫不犹豫就答应了。然而，当时的世界粮食奖委员会只由几个人组成，知名度也非常有限。奎因大使志向高远，他希望把世界粮食奖变成人们眼中的“诺贝尔农业奖”，把爱荷华州的得梅因变成重要的农业交流之都。 

2009年 1月19日，奎因大使（中）于华盛顿特区接受美国空军奖章荣誉。左为美国副国务卿约翰·尼葛洛庞帝，右为参议员莱纳德·博斯韦尔(图片来源：World Food Prize Amb.奎因 photos)   

        的确，奎因大使的理想在一点一点实现：每年，都有很多全美乃至世界的高端农业会议、展会在此召开；从爱荷华州首府得梅因市（Des Moines)，到得梅因的“后花园”安克尼市（Ankeny)，再到爱荷华州立大学所在的大学城埃姆斯市（Ames），建立了著名的农业生态走廊^[5]，汇聚了众多农业与生物科学产业；各大企业每年都向世界粮食奖基金会捐助大量资金，资助全美优秀大学生、高中生赴非洲、亚洲进行农业课题研究。世界粮食奖成为了爱荷华州的一颗耀眼的明珠。

        听完奎因大使的故事，我颇受启发，农业对于我们人类，特别是那些还处在贫困线下的人们是如此重要。到2050年，我们预计将要供养90亿人口，提高农业生产率至关重要。他们促进了各种组织、企业与农场、农民之间的交流，推动农业技术的改革创新，吸引更多青年学子参与并热爱农业研究，关注人类的可持续发展。“民以食为天”，他们正致力解决的是人类的基本生存问题。

       我暗暗下定决心，明年，我将不会辜负奎因大使的期望，要做一份高质量的课题研究，参加世界粮食奖会议的交流，发出来自高中校园的呼声，为那些贫困人群的生存和健康做一点微薄的贡献。

 

【英文原文】

He announced the award recipient Yuan Longping

and shook hands with the two Xis

——President of the World Food Prize

 

Merrina(Yiqing) Lan（Ames High School 2018）

“Dear Merrina, I am glad that you found my presentation interesting. I very much hope to see you at World Food Prize youth Institute events in the future. Good luck with your studies at Ames high school! ———Kenneth Quinn”

On May 27th, 2016, I received this email from Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, an extraordinary leader who has spent 32 years working in the Foreign Service. Ambassador Quinn has a series of impressive achievements, he is the only civilian to be awarded the US Army Air Medal, he served in the Vietnam War and was a former ambassador to Cambodia. In 2000, he assumed leadership of the World Food Prize Foundation. On March 3rd, 2004, Amb.Quinn announced the two annual World Food Prize winners, one of them was the Chinese “Father of the Hybrid Rice” Professor Yuan Longping. He highly praised Prof.Yuan for greatly improving food security for millions of people in Asia and Africa by making scientific breakthroughs^[1].

About the World Food Prize(from the official website):

Since 1986, The World Food Prize has honored outstanding individuals who have made vital contributions to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food throughout the world. In 1990, Des Moines businessman and philanthropist John Ruan assumed sponsorship of The Prize and established The World Food Prize Foundation, located in Des Moines, Iowa. The World Food Prize also annually hosts the Borlaug Dialogue international symposium to bring the world's foremost experts together to discuss cutting-edge issues in food security, and multiple youth education programs to inspire the next generation to study and work in fields related to global agriculture^[2].

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte(left), Ambassador Kenneth Quinn(middle), and Congressman Leonard Boswell(right) at the January 13 ceremony in Washington D.C.(Photo Credit:World Food Prize Amb.Quinn photos)

 

With the invitation from President Yan of the Chinese Association of Iowa,I had the honor to join a luncheon held at the Embassy Club of the Ruan Center. Amb.Quinn was the speaker, he told us numerous interesting stories of his life.

During the Vietnam War, Amb.Quinn was sent to Vietnam as a young man. He learned to fly planes and became fluent in Vietnamese. He was also concerned about the living condition of local civilians. Gradually he found that whenever new roads are built, the problems of food and clothing deficiency would be alleviated, soldiers would also fight more effectively. This interesting discovery led him to realize how transportation and agriculture are closely related.

The US government offered Amb.Quinn full scholarship to study at Harvard University after the Vietnam War ended. However, Amb.Quinn chose to stay in Vietnam and he later became the US ambassador to Cambodia. He thought that his office would be located inside magnificent palaces. But he later found that he would be working in poor village cabins. At that moment, Amb.Quinn laughed with all the audience with both humor and pride.

Amb.Quinn returned to the US and continued his career in foreign services after his five-year term being the ambassador to Cambodia. By the 1970s, the US-China relationship gradually normalized. In 1979, Amb.Quinn accompanied Iowa Gov. Robert Ray on one of the first post-normalization of relations exchange visits to China. He met senior leader Deng Xiaoping and Xi Zhongxun, the governor of Guangdong province.

A year later, a delegation of Chinese provincial leaders traveled to Iowa to reciprocate the visit of Gov.Ray, which was led by Gov.Xi Zhongxun^[3]. Amb.Quinn and Gov.Xi discussed agricultural reform and emphasized the importance of allowing farmers to manage their own lands. His ideas greatly influenced the reform in rural China which increased productivity and successfully fed its population of more than a billion^[4].

Gov.Xi(right) talking with Gov.Ray(left) during his visit to Iowa (Photo Credit: cntv net)

 

In 2012, Xi Jinping, the son of Gov. Xi Zhongxun, was the vice president of China and he visited the Hall of Laureates of the World Food Prize. When President Xi shook hands with Amb.Quinn, he was told that Amb.Quinn also shook hands with his father. President Xi was greatly surprised and he was glad to meet Amb.Quinn.

When Amb.Quinn came to the age of retirement, he was asked if he wanted to take the position as the president of the World Food Prize. He agreed. But at that time, the World Food Prize Foundation had very few workers, and it was not widely known. Amb.Quinn was determined to let the World Food Prize become the Nobel Prize of Agriculture and turn Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, into an important city for agricultural communications.

Indeed, the World Food Prize is developing towards their expectations. Cutting-edge agricultural conferences and exhibitions take place in Des Moines every year. Des Moines, Ankeny, and Ames are dubbed “Cultivation Corridor”, which intended to make Central Iowa the hub for the agriculture and bioscience industry^[5]. Large companies donate a considerable amount of scholarships to high-achieving college and high school students to conduct agricultural research in Africa and India each year. The World Food Prize is now a highlight of the state of Iowa.

I was greatly inspired after listening to Amb.Quinn’s story. Agriculture plays a significant role in human lives, especially those that live in poverty. By 2050, it is estimated that the world will have to feed a population of 9 billion. This could not be achieved without the increase in food productivity. The World Food Prize helped form networks between organizations, firms and farmers, encouraged innovations and attracted young scholars to engage in agricultural projects and focus on sustainability. A Chinese proverb can describe why they are tackling these challenges, “Food is the paramount necessity of the people.”

After realizing that so many people around the world are doing their best to contribute to food security, I decided to do a high-quality research next year, advance into the Global Youth Institute and contribute my efforts. Hopefully, I would meet Amb.Quinn again and show him my achievements as a young biologist.

 

Bibliography：

1. XinHua News <http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2004-03/30/content_1391180.htm>

2. Hall of Laureates <http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/hall_of_laureates/welcome_to_the_hall_of_laureates/>

3. World Food Prize News <https://www.worldfoodprize.org/index.cfm/24667/17309/kenneth_quinn_iowa_and_china_have_come_full_circle>

4. Reminiscence of the agricultural reform in the rural China, Tian Jiyuan <http://www.ce.cn/ztpd/xwzt/guonei/2004/jdzg/hywg/jdyk/200406/25/t20040625_1151444.shtml>

5. The Des Moines Register, Ames-Des Moines region dubbed 'Cultivation Corridor' <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2014/04/21/ames-des-moines-bioscience-corridor-branding/7961381/>

参考资料：

1. 新华社 <http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2004-03/30/content_1391180.htm>

2. 世界粮食奖名人堂<http://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/hall_of_laureates/welcome_to_the_hall_of_laureates/>

3. 世界粮食奖新闻<https://www.worldfoodprize.org/index.cfm/24667/17309/kenneth_quinn_iowa_and_china_have_come_full_circle>

4. 回顾中国农村改革历程，田纪元<http://www.ce.cn/ztpd/xwzt/guonei/2004/jdzg/hywg/jdyk/200406/25/t20040625_1151444.shtml>

5. 得梅因纪事，埃姆斯至得梅因的生态走廊<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2014/04/21/ames-des-moines-bioscience-corridor-branding/7961381/>