Lester Brown is a highly respected and influential authority on global environmental issues. He founded the Worldwatch Institute in 1974 and served as its president until 2000. In 2001 he launched a new initiative, the Earth Policy Institute Brown is an award-winning author of many books and articles on environmentally sustainable economic development and on environmental, agricultural, and economic problems and trends.

Lester R. Brown. (Corbis-Bettmann. Reproduced by permission.)

Brown was born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, and during high school and college, he grew tomatoes with his younger brother. At this time he developed his appreciation for nature's ability, if properly treated, to supply us with food on a regular and sustainable basis. After earning a degree in agricultural science from Rutgers University in 1955, he spent six...