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The
world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago,
Illinois, USA, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul
P. Harris, an attorney who wished to recapture in a professional
club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small
towns of his youth. The name "Rotary" derived
from the early practice of rotating meetings among members'
offices.
Rotary's popularity spread
throughout the United States in the decade that followed;
clubs were chartered from San Francisco to New York. By
1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents,
and the organization adopted the name Rotary International
a year later.
As Rotary grew, its mission
expanded beyond serving the professional and social interests
of club members. Rotarians began pooling their resources
and contributing their talents to help serve communities
in need. The organization's dedication to this ideal is
best expressed in its principal motto: Service Above Self.
Rotary also later embraced a code of ethics, called The
4-Way Test, that has been translated into hundreds of
languages.
During and after World
War II, Rotarians became increasingly involved in promoting
international understanding. A Rotary conference held
in London in 1942 planted the seeds for the development
of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), and numerous Rotarians have served
as consultants to the United Nations.
An endowment fund, set
up by Rotarians in 1917 "for doing good in the world,"
became a not-for-profit corporation known as The Rotary
Foundation in 1928. Upon the death of Paul Harris in 1947,
an outpouring of Rotarian donations made in his honor,
totaling US$2 million, launched the Foundation's first
program - graduate fellowships, now called Ambassadorial
Scholarships. Today, contributions to The Rotary Foundation
total more than US$80 million annually and support a wide
range of humanitarian grants and educational programs
that enable Rotarians to bring hope and promote international
understanding throughout the world.
In 1985, Rotary made a
historic commitment to immunize all of the world's children
against polio. Working in partnership with nongovernmental
organizations and national governments thorough its PolioPlus
program, Rotary is the largest private-sector contributor
to the global polio eradication campaign. Rotarians have
mobilized hundreds of thousands of PolioPlus volunteers
and have immunized more than one billion children worldwide.
By the 2005 target date for certification of a polio-free
world, Rotary will have contributed half a billion dollars
to the cause.
As it approached the dawn
of the 21st century, Rotary worked to meet the changing
needs of society, expanding its service effort to address
such pressing issues as environmental degradation, illiteracy,
world hunger, and children at risk. The organization admitted
women for the first time in 1989 and claims more than
90,000 women in its ranks today. Following the collapse
of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
Rotary clubs were formed or re-established throughout
Central and Eastern Europe. Today, 1.2 million Rotarians
belong to some 30,000 Rotary clubs in more than 160 countries.
Paul P. Harris
1868-1947
Paul P. Harris, a lawyer,
was the founder of Rotary, the world's first and most
international service club.
Born in Racine Wisconsin,
USA on 19 April 1968, Paul was the second of six children
to George N. Harris and Cornelia Bryan Harris. At age
3 he moved to Wallingford, Vermont where he grew up in
the care of his paternal grandparents. Married to Jean
Thompson Harris (1881 - 1963), they had no children. He
received an L.L.B. from the University of Iowa and received
an honorary L.L.D. from the University of Vermont.
Paul Harris worked as a
newspaper reporter, a business teacher, stock company
actor, cowboy, and traveled extensively in the U.S.A.
and Europe selling marble and granite. In 1896, he went
to Chicago to practice law. One evening Paul visited the
suburban home of a professional friend. After dinner,
as they strolled through the neighborhood, Paul's friend
introduced him to various tradesmen in their stores. It
was here Paul conceived the idea of a club that could
recapture some of the friendly spirit among businessmen
in small communities.
On 23 February, 1905, Paul
Harris formed the first club with three other businessmen:
Silvester Schiele, a coal merchant; Gustavus Loehr, a
mining engineer; and Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor.
Paul Harris named the new club "Rotary" because
members met in rotation at their various places of business.
Club membership grew rapidly. Soon Paul became convinced
that the Rotary club could be developed into an important
service movement and strove to extend Rotary to other
cities.
Paul was also prominent
in other civic and professional work. He served as the
first chairman of the board of the national Easter Seal
Society of Crippled Children and Adults in the U.S.A.
and of the International Society for Crippled Children.
He was a member of the board of managers of the Chicago
Bar Association and its representative at the International
Congress of Law at the Hague, and a committee member of
the American Bar Association. He received the Silver Buffalo
Award from the Boy Scouts of America for distinguished
service to youth, and was decorated by the governments
of Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France
and Peru.
Paul maintained his law
office for most of his life. He spent much time traveling
and was invited to speak to Rotarians at annual conventions,
district and regional meetings, and other functions. When
President emeritus Paul Harris passed away on 27 January,
1947, his dream had grown from an informal meeting of
four men to some 6,000 clubs. In the past five decades,
the organization has grown to more than 27,500 clubs with
1.2 million members brought together through Paul Harris'
vision of service and fellowship.
Object of Rotary
The Object of Rotary is
to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis
of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage
and foster:
FIRST. The development
of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND. High ethical standards
in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness
of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each
Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD. The application
of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business,
and community life;
FOURTH. The advancement
of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through
a world fellowship of business and professional persons
united in the ideal of service.
The 4-Way Test
From the earliest days
of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting
high ethical standards in their professional lives. One
of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements
of business ethics is The 4-Way Test, which was created
in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served
as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a
company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word code
of ethics for employees to follow in their business and
professional lives became the guide for sales, production,
advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers,
and the survival of the company is credited to this simple
philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test
has been translated into more than a hundred languages
and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following
four questions:
"Of the things we
think, say or do:
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL
and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL
to all concerned?"
Rotary International Board
of Directors for 2002-03
President
Bhichai Rattakul
Dhonburi, Thailand (Term
expires 30 June 2003)
E-mail: rattakub@rotaryintl.org
Web site: http://www.rotary.org/president/
Mr. Rattakul was educated
in Bangkok and Hong Kong and received an Honorary Doctorate
Degree in Political Science from the University of Ramkhamhaeng
University in Bangkok and Kensington University in California.
A Member of Parliament
for nine terms since 1969 and Leader of the Democrat Party,
he has served his country as Foreign Minister, Deputy
Prime Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives
and President of the Parliament. He has also led many
Thai delegations to the United Nations. Mr. Rattakul is
the Thailand Goodwill Representative for International
Cooperation.
Mr. Rattakul is Honorary
Vice President of the Thai Scout Council.
He has also served as Chairman
of the Anti Corruption Commission, Anti Drugs Commission,
National Audit Commission and the 13th Asian Olympic Organizing
committee.
He has been decorated with
Special Class Honor from the King of Thailand and honors
from the Emperor of Japan, Presidents of the Philippines,
Korea, Austria and Nicaragua.
Bhichai Rattakul joined
the Rotary Club of Dhonburi in Bangkok as a charter member
in 1958 and has served Rotary International as district
governor, international assembly group discussion leader,
member and chairman of numerous committees, trustee of
the Rotary Foundation, director and chairman of the Executive
Committee of Rotary International. He is the recipient
of The Rotary Foundation's Distinguished Service Award
and Citation for Meritorious Service for his support of
its international humanitarian and educational programs
and will serve as President of Rotary International in
2002-03.
Mr. Rattakul and his wife
Khunying Charoye Rattakul have three children and five
grandchildren. He enjoys gardening, golf and reading.
President-elect
Jonathan Majiyagbe
Kano, Nigeria (Term expires
30 June 2004)
E-mail: majiyagj@rotaryintl.org
Jonathan Majiyagbe, a senior
advocate of Nigeria, is the principal counsel of the law
firm J.B. Majiyagbe & Company, in Kano. A member of
the Nigerian and English bars, Majiyagbe also belongs
to the Honourable Body of Benchers, the panel that evaluates
the qualifications of those seeking to practice law in
Nigeria and formally calls them to the bar. He is a graduate
of London University and a member of the Chartered Institute
of Arbitrators, London.
Majiyagbe is chairman of
the Kano State branch of the Nigerian Red Cross Society
and was for many years chancellor of the Anglican Diocese
of Kano. He is also a member of the Kano Chamber of Commerce,
Industry, Mines, and Agriculture and is trustee of various
international cultural organizations.
A Rotarian since 1967,
Majiyagbe has served RI as district governor, International
Assembly discussion leader, committee member and chairman,
Foundation trustee, aide to the president, and director.
He is past chairman of the African Regional PolioPlus
Committee and the African Affairs Committee. Majiyagbe
is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Kano. He and
his wife, Ade, are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation.
Vice-President
James R. Shamblin
South Shreveport, La.,
USA (Term expires 30 June 2003)
E-mail: drjrsmd@aol.com
Dr. James Shamblin is a
board-certified general surgeon specializing in obesity
surgery in Shreveport, La. He has published numerous papers
on surgery topics and has presented related papers at
conferences worldwide, including London; Sydney, Australia;
Kyoto, Japan; and Acapulco, Mexico.
A Rotarian since 1965,
Shamblin has served as president of the Rotary Club of
Tuscaloosa, Ala., district governor, task force member,
International Assembly discussion leader, and member of
numerous committees.
He is a recipient of RI's
Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation's Distinguished
Service Award and Citation for Meritorious Service. Shamblin
and his wife, Linda, are Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors
of the Permanent Fund, and Major Donors. |
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