FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 12, 2005

Former U.N. Food Program Director Joins Faculty of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University

Catherine Ann Bertini oversaw the largest humanitarian agency in the world.

Catherine Ann Bertini, who recently stepped down as U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Management, is joining the faculty of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University as Professor of Practice in Public Administration, according to Maxwell Dean Mitchel Wallerstein. Previously, Bertini served for 10 years as executive director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest international humanitarian aid agency.

During her decade of service at the WFP, Bertini is credited with assisting hundreds of millions of victims of wars and natural disasters throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. As part of her mandate to assess humanitarian conditions and implement effective measures to fight hunger, Bertini traveled extensively, meeting with leaders at the highest levels of government as well as with thousands of people in need. During her tenure, Bertini transformed the WFP from primarily a development assistance organization into the largest and most responsive humanitarian relief organization in the world, delivering life-sustaining food aid to over 700 million people in more than 100 countries.

“Catherine’s thorough knowledge of the United Nations and its constituent agencies and international NGOs, combined with her extensive “hands on” experience in managing billion-dollar budgets and a large international staff, will make her an invaluable asset to the Maxwell School’s public administration and international relations programs,” Wallerstein observed. “I have little doubt that Maxwell graduate students will be eager to take full advantage of the practical, real-world knowledge that she brings with regard to the management of international and nonprofit organizations working in the area of economic and social development and humanitarian relief. The Maxwell School is indeed most fortunate that Catherine Bertini has chosen to join its faculty after such an illustrious and successful international career.”

Before serving in the U.N., Bertini was Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Food and Consumer Services, where she ran the nation’s $33 billion domestic food assistance programs, including the food stamp, school lunch and breakfast, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programs. She also served in the Department of Health and Human Services, and worked for the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the Container Corporation of America.

Bertini has received numerous honorary degrees from universities in four countries. In 2003, she was awarded the prestigious World Food Prize – the foremost international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.

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The Maxwell School of Syracuse University, founded in 1924, is the premier academic institution in the United States committed to scholarship, civic leadership, and education in public and international affairs. Maxwell is home to Syracuse University’s social science departments and to numerous nationally recognized multidisciplinary graduate programs in public policy, international studies, social policy, and conflict resolution. Maxwell's graduate program in public administration -- the first of its kind -- is ranked consistently the best in the nation.

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Contact: Jill Leonhardt, director of communications, (315) 443-5492; jlleonha@maxwell.syr.edu.