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Des Moines, Iowa, February 17, 2013 – The Chinese Association of Iowa will present its highest honor, the Dr. David Jiajian Wang Award for Humanity, to Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn at 6:30 pm on February 25, 2013, at the Des Moines Embassy Club. The award was announced by the Chinese Association of Iowa’s 25 Years Celebration Committee.
“Ambassador Quinn is a perfect role model and a great inspiration for young people such as me – I had the pleasure of volunteering for the World Food Prize a couple years ago and I am extremely impressed by Ambassador Quinn’s leadership style,” said Li Zhao, a Chinese Association of Iowa board member from Des Moines. “He is the embodiment of true humanitarianism. Continuing with Dr. Norman Borlaug’s vision and mission, his work at the World Food Prize is profoundly important for generations to come.”
On August 17, 2002, Dr. David Jiajian Wang, a native of China’s Hainan Island and a dentist, graduated from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and sacrificed his life when he tried to save a boy at Lake Panorama, Panora. Five years after David Wang’s sacrificed his life for others, the Chinese Association of Iowa established the David Jiajian Wang Award for Humanity to honor his great achievement and sacrifice for State of Iowa communities. Since then, the association has selected individuals or groups among the top echelon of extraordinary contributors to society in our generation to recognize their distinguished humanity impact to the State of Iowa. Honorees include former Governor of Iowa Robert Ray.
Dr. Quinn, former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, has served as president of the World Food Prize Foundation since January 2000. Under Dr. Quinn’s direction, the stature of the annual $250,000 World Food Prize award has helped significantly expand the size and scope of World Food Day, the World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony, the “Borlaug Dialogue” international symposium and the Global Youth Institute.
Prior to his work at the World Food Prize Foundation, Quinn served at the State Department for 32 years in the Foreign Service. He served in such positions as a rural development advisor in the Mekong Delta, on the National Security Council staff at the White House and as director of Iowa SHARES, the humanitarian campaign that sent Iowa doctors, nurses, medical supplies and food to starving Cambodian refugees. He is one of the most decorated Foreign Service officers of his generation, recognized for the important role he’s played in humanitarian endeavors.
About Chinese Association of Iowa(CAI): Established in 1987, CAI is a community-based, member-focused, and non-profit organization. CAI represents the business, economic and community development of Iowa's young, strong and influential Chinese American community. CAI has made great strides in representing Chinese American. It aims to promote cultural diversity and enrichment in the local community. www.iowachinese.org
Chinese Association of Iowa
For interview please contact Li Zhao at 515.282.9988 or email at li@chinaiowa.com