DES MOINES – Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad today announced he will present Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn the Iowa Award on May 30, 2014, at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines, Iowa. Quinn currently serves as the President of The World Food Prize. A biography of Quinn can be found below.
The Iowa Award represents the state’s highest citizen award. The Iowa Centennial Memorial Foundation, established in 1948 by Governor Robert D. Blue and the Iowa Legislature, created the award. The foundation wished “to encourage and recognize the outstanding service of Iowans in the fields of science, medicine, law, religion, social welfare, education, agriculture, industry, government, and other public service” and to recognize the “merit of their accomplishments in Iowa and throughout the United States.”
“I’m pleased today to announce that Ambassador Kenneth Quinn will become the twenty-third recipient of the Iowa Award,” said Branstad. “Ken personifies the characteristics and qualities that we Iowans strive to embody: integrity, philanthropy and service. Whether it be his humanitarian work on behalf of refugees from Southeast Asia while serving with Governor Robert D. Ray, his passion to continue the legacy of feeding the world started by Iowan Dr. Norman Borlaug, or his diplomatic career which included negotiating for American entry into Vietnamese prisons to search for prisoners of war, Ken has consistently put his state and country above self.”
Branstad formally notified Ambassador Quinn of the honor on Monday, May 5, 2014.
“I was humbled beyond anything I could put into words when Governor Branstad informed me that I was to be the recipient of this singular honor,” said Ambassador Quinn. “Throughout my career, whether at home or abroad, I have been guided and sustained by the core values that were instilled in me growing up in Iowa, and by our state’s great agricultural and humanitarian heritage. I am so proud to be an American, and I am so proud to be an Iowan.”
