From The Mississippi to the Mekong: Ahlgren International Affairs Lecture

A 1964 graduate of Loras College, Ambassador Kenneth Quinn will recount his 32 years as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, including three assignments on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, culminating with his serving as American Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia. Following his diplomatic career, he spent two decades leading the World Food Prize Foundation, building that annual $250,000 award for reducing hunger, so it is now referred to by world leaders as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture.”

Ambassador Quinn, who grew up in Dubuque and graduated from Wahlert Catholic High School, has an M.A. from Marquette University and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He was only the 23rd individual in Iowa history to receive the Iowa Award, our state’s highest citizen recognition. He also was presented: the Aegis Trust Distinguished Service Award for confronting genocide in a ceremony in the House of Lords; the State Department Medal for Heroism and Valor for his four life-saving rescues in Vietnam during the war; and the White House Meritorious Service Award for his role in the evacuation of Saigon, including serving as interpreter in Vietnamese for President Gerald Ford as South Vietnam was collapsing.