International Rescue Committee President George Rupp chosen as Rice University’s 2008 commencement speaker

International Rescue Committee President George Rupp chosen as Rice University’s 2008 commencement speaker

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff   
 
For 75 years the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has brought refugees from harm to home, and the organization’s leader, George Rupp, will share some of those incredible journeys when he presents Rice’s 2008 commencement address.

GEORGE RUPP

Touted as “one of the first to respond, one of the last to leave,” the IRC has established a global network of first responders, humanitarian relief workers, health-care specialists, educators, community leaders and volunteers to provide shelter, clean water, health care and education to millions of people whose lives have been disrupted by violence and oppression. Rupp has been president and CEO of the IRC since 2002.

“The name George Rupp is probably most familiar to the Rice community as the university’s fifth president, but it was his current role with the International Rescue Committee that piqued the interest of the commencement speaker selection committee,” said committee chair Michael Gustin, professor of biochemistry and cell biology.

“The committee wanted someone who could speak to the Rice students about leadership and the big picture of their role in the world,” Gustin said.  This is particularly relevant as a number of Rice students focus their volunteer service and research efforts on global health and poverty, he added.

Martel College senior Sanna Ronkainen, who served on the selection committee, said, “George Rupp’s commitment to serving those in need around the world as the president of the International Rescue Committee is truly admirable and inspiring for those of us going out into the real world.”

Since its founding in 1933 at the suggestion of Albert Einstein, the IRC has become one of the largest and leading charities in the world. IRC personnel are in 25 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster.

In 2006 alone, the IRC aided more than 15 million people in countries inhabited by the most vulnerable populations. Recently the IRC:

• Gave more than 3 million people access to clean water and sanitation
• Trained more than 10,800 educators and supported schools attended by 316,000 children
• Counseled and cared for nearly 140,000 survivors of sexual violence
• Reunited more than 2,400 children and former child soldiers with their families and cared for another 9,300 young people
• Helped resettle 5,000 newly arrived refugees in the U.S. and provided services to 18,000 other refugees
• Helped more than 6,400 refugees settle into new homes, schools and communities in the U.S.

First-person accounts of the IRC’s emergency relief, rehabilitation and protection of human rights are readily available on YouTube.

Named one of 10 Gold Star Charities by the Forbes Investment Guide, the IRC is consistently commended by charity watchdog groups for the efficient use of its financial support and the effectiveness of its work. Of every dollar the IRC spends, 90 cents goes to programs and services that directly benefit refugees and war-affected populations.

As the IRC’s CEO, Rupp oversees the agency’s relief and rehabilitation operations and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs. He also leads the IRC’s advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C.; Geneva; Brussels, Belgium; and other capitals around the globe.

Rupp’s responsibilities often take him to IRC program sites in Europe and Asia, where earlier this month emergency aid was given to some 7,000 Bhutanese refugees who were left without homes, clothing and food after an accidental fire roared through their camp in eastern Nepal. He has also traveled to Africa, where the IRC provided critical assistance to more than 700,000 people uprooted by the brutal ethnic and political violence in Darfur, Sudan.

While a trip to Houston can’t compare to such challenging international destinations, Rupp is very much looking forward to his return to the campus. “I have very fond memories of Rice and am delighted at the prospect of returning for commencement, which I always considered a highlight of the year,” he said. “Just to be back in that fabulous Academic Quad will be a thrill. I feel exhilarated that another thousand Rice alums will be shaking President Leebron’s hand and then processing together from the Sallyport.”

President David Leebron praised the selection of Rupp. ”I am really delighted that the graduation committee sought a speaker who exemplifies the contributions we can make to improve our world, and especially the lives of the least fortunate among us,” Leebron said. “No one represents this better than George Rupp and his work over the last six years as president of the International Rescue Committee. It’s an added bonus that this provides an opportunity to bring back to Rice someone who understands what we stand for and who contributed so much to our success.”

Before joining the IRC, Rupp was president of Columbia University — the position that succeeded his 1985-93 presidency at Rice. He was the Lord O’Brian Professor of Divinity and dean of the Divinity School at Harvard before coming to Rice.

Rupp received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1964, a B.D. from Yale Divinity School in 1967 and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1972.  He is the author of numerous articles and five books, including “Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community” (2006).

Rice’s 95th commencement will be held May 10.

For more information on the IRC, visit www.theirc.org.