2006.07.25: July 25, 2006: Headlines: COS - India: Obituaries: All Africa: Obituary for India RPCV Leonard Robinson
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
India:
Peace Corps India:
The Peace Corps in India:
2006.07.25: July 25, 2006: Headlines: COS - India: Obituaries: All Africa: Obituary for India RPCV Leonard Robinson
Obituary for India RPCV Leonard Robinson
Robinson served two terms as deputy assistant secretary of State for Africa during a career in international relations that spanned four decades, dating from his tenure as a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1964 to 1967. At age 23, he was named as the associate director for India for the Peace Corps, where he later became director of minority recruitment.
Obituary for India RPCV Leonard Robinson
PanAfrica: Africa Society President and CEO Leonard Robinson Dies
allAfrica.com
July 25, 2006
Posted to the web July 25, 2006
Washington, DC
Leonard H. Robinson, Jr., president and CEO of the Africa Society, a leading Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, died early Tuesday at Washington Hospital Center following a short illness.
"Leonard was simply one of the finest individuals I have ever met," said Judith McHale, president and CEO of Discovery Communications and vice chair of the Africa Society Board. "He was a true servant of the public, whose leadership and dedication changed lives on two different continents," she said in one of a number of tributes that poured in as news circulated of Robinson's unexpected death, which his family said was caused by complications from a kidney infection. He was 63.
Leonard Robinson
Leonard Robinson / Africa Society
"Another strong voice for Africa was silenced today," said C. Payne Lucas, a close friend and president emeritus of Africare. "He was committed to making Africa a full partner in the global community."
Robinson served two terms as deputy assistant secretary of State for Africa during a career in international relations that spanned four decades, dating from his tenure as a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1964 to 1967. At age 23, he was
named as the associate director for India for the Peace Corps, where he later became director of minority recruitment.
From 1983-1984 during the Reagan administration, Robinson oversaw economic and commercial policy at the State Department. When he returned to the Africa Bureau in 1990, he coordinated U.S. policy toward west and central Africa and directed U.S. diplomatic efforts to end Liberia's civil war, until President George H.W. Bush left office in early 1994. For six years between his State Department postings, Robinson served as president of the U.S. African Development Foundation, which was established by Congress in 1981 to provide small-scale assistance to community-based organizations and grassroots enterprises throughout Africa. During his tenure, annual Congressional appropriations for the foundation rose from U.S.$1 million to $17 million.
In 1997, Robinson established the LHR International Group, a consulting firm that provided U.S. foreign policy analysis for African and Asian leaders and governments. That year, he was named to the board of the newly created National Summit on Africa, which was initiated with funding from the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York to build support for Africa in the United States. He was named president of the organization in 1999, prior to the conference held in Washington, DC in February 2000, which attracted 8,000 participants from across the country.
In 2001, Robinson spearheaded the creation of the Africa Society to carry on the Summit's mission and strengthen public awareness and support for Africa. "Leonard gave everything he had to the Africa Society, and to the continent of Africa for over 30 years," said Bernadette Paolo, vice president and co-founder of the Africa Society. "He contributed his brilliance, passion, and visionary leadership. He was our founder, our inspiration and our star. Leonard's life meant a great deal to countless numbers of Americans and Africans who benefited from his work. His memory will serve to move us forward on our mission to educate all Americans about Africa."
According to Rep. Donald Payne, the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, who has worked closely with Robinson and Paolo on a number of initiatives: "Leonard drew upon his extensive experience in the public and private sectors to make the National Summit a success and to turn the Africa Society into one of the leading Africa advocacy groups on Capitol Hill."
Robinson propelled the Africa Society into a powerful voice in policy circles, Lucas said. "He believed that people could and would overcome centuries of economic and political impoverishment and geographic and social isolation by getting to know each other and by working cooperatively to resolve seemingly intractable problems."
Born in North Carolina, Robinson earned a BA from Ohio State University and did graduate studies at the State University of New York, Binghamton, the American University and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received two honorary doctoral degrees and taught African Studies at the University of Massachusetts. In 2004, he was appointed the first Diplomat Scholar in Residence at the University of Virginia. He has been listed in Who's Who in America since 1985 and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Robinson is survived by two daughters, Rani Robinson of Washington, DC, Kemberley Robinson of Houston, Texas, his mother, Winnie T. Robinson of Durham, North Carolina, and a brother, Dr. Michael Robinson of Los Angeles, California.
A memorial service will be held on August 15 at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC at 10:30 am. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, who is chair emeritus of the Africa Society board, is scheduled to deliver the eulogy.
The family requests contributions be made to the "Leonard H. Robinson, Jr. Endowment" in support of the Africa Society "as a living testimony of all that Leonard sought to achieve."
Discovery Communications "has lost a dear friend and partner, but our commitment to deepening the understanding between the people of Africa and the United States remains unbounded," McHale said. "This is what Leonard would have wanted."
For more information about the memorial service and the endowment, visit the Africa Society web site.
When this story was posted in July 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
 | Bush nominates RPCV Ron Tschetter to head PC
President Bush has nominated Ron Tschetter to serve as Director of the Peace Corps. Tschetter, 64, is the president of D.A. Davidson & Co., an employee-owned investment firm based in Montana who first got involved with the Peace Corps in 1966, when he volunteered with his wife to work as family planning advisers in India. He is a former Chairman of the National Peace Corps Association.
PCOL Comment: Congratulations to the Bush administration for an inspired choice for Peace Corps Director. Ron Tschetter is not only an RPCV but was Chairman of the NPCA. Best wishes to Mr. Tschetter on his future tenure as Director of the Peace Corps. |
 | Changing the Face of Hunger
In his new book, Former Congressman Tony Hall (RPCV Thailand) says humanitarian aid is the most potent weapon the United States can deploy against terrorism. An evangelical Christian, he is a big believer in faith-based organizations in the fight against hunger. Members of Congress have recently recommended that Hall be appointed special envoy to Sudan to focus on ending the genocide in Darfur. |
 | PC will not return to East Timor in 2006
Volunteers serving in East Timor have safely left the country as a result of the recent civil unrest and government instability. Latest: The Peace Corps has informed us that at this time, the Peace Corps has no plans to re-enter the country in 2006. The Peace Corps recently sent a letter offering eligible volunteers the opportunity to reinstate their service in another country. |
 | Chris Dodd considers run for the White House
Senator Chris Dodd plans to spend the next six to eight months raising money and reaching out to Democrats around the country to gauge his viability as a candidate. Just how far Dodd can go depends largely on his ability to reach Democrats looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton. PCOL Comment: Dodd served as a Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been one of the strongest supporters of the Peace Corps in Congress. |
 | Vasquez testifies before Senate Committee
Director Vasquez testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination as the new Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture replacing Tony Hall. He has been the third longest serving Peace Corps Director after Loret Ruppe Miller and Sargent Shriver. PCOL Comment: Read our thanks to Director Vasquez for his service to the Peace Corps. |
 | Interview with a Hit Man
RPCV John Perkins says that for many years he was an "economic hit man" in the world of international finance whose primary job was to convince less developed countries to accept multibillion dollar loans for infrastructure projects that left the recipient countries wallowing in debt and highly vulnerable to outside political and commercial interests. In this exclusive interview for "Peace Corps Online," Colombia RPCV Joanne Roll, author of Remember with Honor, talks to Perkins about his Peace Corps service, his relation with the NSA, "colonization" in Ecuador, the consequences of his work, why he decided to speak out, and what his hopes are for change. |
 | Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request
The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that Peace Corps has blocked their request for information on the Volkart case. "After the Tidings requested information pertaining to why Volkart was denied the position — on March 2 — the newspaper received a letter from the Peace Corps FOIA officer stating the requested information was protected under an exemption of the act." The Dayton Daily News had similar problems with FOIA requests for their award winning series on Volunteer Safety and Security. |
 | PCOL readership increases 100%
Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. |
 | History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
 | RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps
Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
 | Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger
When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: All Africa
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - India; Obituaries
PCOL33761
61
