Catherine Bertini

Catherine Ann Bertini is a professor of public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Ms. Bertini previously served as UN under secretary-general for management (2003-05) and as executive director of the UN World Food Program, the world's largest international humanitarian aid agency (1992-2002). Ms. Bertini was 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. Before serving in the UN, Ms. Bertini was USDA assistant secretary for food and consumer services where she ran the nation's $33 billion domestic food assistance programs. She also served in the Department of Health and Human Services, the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the Container Corporation of America. Ms. Bertini has received numerous honorary degrees from universities in four countries and the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. 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.

Ms. Bertini earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany. She was a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and policy maker in residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She is a member of the board of directors of the Tupperware Brands Corporation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Food Science and Technology. Ms. Bertini is a member of the Board of International Food and Agriculture Development, an advisory committee to USAID, a founding member of the new Global Humanitarian Forum, based in Geneva, and a member of the jury for the Hilton Foundation's Humanitarian Prize.