- Robert P. De Vecchi
Robert P. DeVecchi is currently President "Emeritus" of the International Rescue Committee.
Born in New York City, he graduated
Yale University in 1952, then served for two years on active duty with theUnited States Air Force and in 1956 received an M.B.A. fromHarvard University . He served as a foreign service officer in theU.S. Department of State , serving in posts includingNATO headquarters in Paris, and U.S. embassies in Warsaw and Rome. In 1969, he became European Director ofThe Conference Board , based in Paris. In 1972 he became director of Inner Cities Programs and New York Representative of theSave the Children Foundation.In 1975, Mr. DeVecchi joined the
International Rescue Committee as coordinator of its Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Program, then became IRC program director in 1980, executive director in 1985, and President and C.E.O. in 1993. He served in that capacity until 1997, when he was elected President "Emeritus".According to his biography released in conjunction with his receipt of an honorary
Doctorate of Humane Letters from Yale University in 2005, Mr. DeVecchi was responsible for initiating emergency relief programs in over twenty-eight countries, includingThailand ,Cambodia ,Burma ,Pakistan ,Afghanistan ,Somalia ,Sudan ,Rwanda , theDemocratic Republic of Congo ,Iraq ,El Salvador , Bosnia, andKosovo . In addition, he initiated a domestic refugee resettlement program in the United States. On average, one million refugees or displaced persons received IRC assistance yearly, and up to ten thousand refugees were permanently resettled. After retiring in 1997, Mr. DeVecchi was appointed "Adjunct Senior Fellow for Refugees and the Displaced" at theCouncil on Foreign Relations . Other awards include, in 1996, the Peacemakers Award of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C.; 1997, under his leadership, the IRC was awarded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1 million; and 1998, recipient of the IRC's Freedom Award for his "extraordinary contribution to the cause of refugees and human freedom."
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