IU’s Morris to direct U.N. food program

Morris is president of the IU Board of Trustees.

The appointment by Kofi Annan, secretary general of the U.N, and Jacques Diouf, director-general of the FAO, followed consultations with WFP’s executive board of 36 member countries.

Established in 1963, WFP is an autonomous joint subsidiary program of the United Nations and its Food and Agriculture Organization for emergency food assistance. In 2000, the program fed 83 million people in 83 countries, including most of the world’s internally displaced people, delivering 3.7 million tons of food aid.

“I am genuinely overwhelmed by the opportunity to spend the next several years of my life working on this most important world issue. Every day there are over 800 million hungry people in the world, mostly children, thousands of whom are dying each day. This is a great and a humbling challenge,” Morris said. “I am very grateful for the encouragement and support I have received from the IU family,” he said.

“Jim Morris has been an outstanding leader for IU and the state of Indiana over the years. I am certain those same leadership skills will make a difference for this vital program as well,” commented IU President Myles Brand.

Morris’ term as a trustee runs through June 30. He said he intends to complete that term and will manage his calendar to the best of his abilities to participate in board meetings through June. He has served as an alumni-elected trustee since 1996.

Morris is chairman and chief executive officer of IWC Resources Co. and its principal subsidiary, the Indianapolis Water Co. From 1984 to 1989, he was president of the Lilly Endowment. He was chief of staff to current Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar from 1967 to 1973 when Lugar was mayor of Indianapolis. He earned his undergraduate degree from IU and an M.B.A. degree from Butler University.

He has been active in a wide variety of local, state and national organizations, including the U. S. Olympic Committee, United Way of Central Indiana and the American Red Cross.

Morris succeeds Catherine Bertini, the first U.S. national to head the Rome-based program.

http://www.wfp.org/index2.html