By Jennifer Lee Atkin Rotary International News --
11 August 2009
Kalyan Banerjee is the selection of the Nominating Committee
for President of Rotary International in 2011-12. Rotary
Images
Kalyan Banerjee, a
member of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India, since 1972,
is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of
Rotary International in 2011-12. Banerjee will become the
president-nominee on 1 October if there are no challenging
candidates.
Banerjee said he would like to see Rotary "blossom from being
the world's most recognized service organization to being the
most important NGO [nongovernmental organization] in the world.
"Rotary, it is said, has the strength of a government and the
tenderness of a parent," he added.
Banerjee is a director of United Phosphorus Limited, the
largest agrochemical manufacturer in India, and the chair of
United Phosphorus (Bangladesh) Limited. He is a member of the
Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Chemical
Society, a past president of Vapi Industries Association, and
former chair of the Gujarat chapter of the Confederation of
Indian Industry. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from
the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, in 1964.
Banerjee has served Rotary as a director, Rotary Foundation
trustee, committee and task force chair, International Assembly
group discussion leader, president's representative, and
district governor.
The chair of the Southeast Asia Regional PolioPlus Committee,
Banerjee has served as a member of the International PolioPlus
Committee for many years and has attended international meetings
with the World Health Organization and UNICEF in that capacity.
Banerjee is a Major Donor, Benefactor, and Bequest Society
member, and has been awarded the Foundation's Citation for
Meritorious Service and its Distinguished Service Award.
Banerjee also serves as a trustee of Rotary club-sponsored
trusts that support many educational and community development
programs in India, including a 250-bed hospital.
He noted that Rotary's strengths include its ability to
attract leaders from different vocations around the world, as
well as its role in promoting peace. "Rotary needs to become the
preferred organization for today's generation to join and
participate in, to make the world better and safer and happier,"
he said.
Banerjee's wife, Binota, is a social worker and Inner Wheel
club member. The couple have two children and four
grandchildren.
The 2009-10 nominating committee members are: John F. Germ
(chair), USA; Lennart Arfwidsson, Sweden; Keith Barnard-Jones,
England; Ronald L. Beaubien, USA; Jacques Berthet, France;
Robert O. Brickman, USA; Peter Bundgaard, Denmark; Ron D.
Burton, USA; Gerson Gonçalves, Brazil; Jerry L. Hall, USA; Horst
Heiner Hellge, Germany; Gary C.K. Huang, Taiwan; Toshio
Itabashi, Japan; Kwang Tae Kim, Korea; Peter Krön, Austria;
Donald L. Mebus, USA; Gerald A. Meigs, USA;
Carlo Monticelli, Italy; Daniel W. Mooers, USA; David D. Morgan,
Wales; G. Kenneth Morgan, USA; Samuel A.
Okudzeto, Ghana; Luiz Coelho de Oliveira, Brazil; Kazuhiko
Ozawa, Japan; Noraseth Pathmanand, Thailand; Barry Rassin,
Bahamas; Ian H.S. Riseley, Australia; Robert S. Scott, Canada;
Robert A. Stuart Jr., USA; Stan Tempelaars, The Netherlands;
P.C. Thomas, India; O.P. Vaish, India; and Yoshimasa Watanabe,
Japan. RGHF Members at the time of the nomination
process
