Glen W. Kinross, the 1997-98 president of Rotary International who urged members to show how Rotary cares for others by eradicating the causes of poverty and hunger, died on 10 September 2024. He was 93.
A member of the Rotary Club of Hamilton, Brisbane, Australia, Kinross exemplified the Rotary ideals of Service Above Self. His presidency was marked by the theme Show Rotary Cares — for your community, for our world, for its people. He called upon Rotary members to eradicate the causes of poverty, illiteracy, innumeracy, unemployment, child abuse, child abandonment, and child labor.
“Poverty and hunger are Enemy Number One to a more understanding and peaceful world,” Kinross wrote in the July 1997 issue of The Rotarian (now Rotary magazine). “There will never be understanding and peace while poverty and hunger exist anywhere.”
He said the most significant challenge for Rotary was to chart a course that addressed the problems of communities and people, and to address them in the future and for the future.
“We can have a better world, a world without poverty and hunger, a world where everyone can read, write, and use numbers; a world where children are safe,” he wrote. “But Rotarians must lead in shaping that world.”
In addition to serving Rotary as president, Kinross was also vice president, a Rotary Foundation trustee and chair, an RI director, district governor, and group leader at the International Assembly. He also served on the executive committee of the Rotary Down Under magazine.
Professionally, Kinross was a joint proprietor (with his older brother) of the family’s furniture manufacturing business, John Kinross & Co., which was established by his grandfather, a Scottish craftsman, in the 1880s.
Kinross entered the business at an early age, after excelling at several sports in high school despite his asthma. Working his way up in the firm, he had a fascination with furniture design. It was there, according to a profile in the July 1997 magazine, that he developed his philosophy of honesty, fair trade, and vocational excellence that would transfer into his Rotary career.
He served as chair of the Australian Council of Furniture Manufacturers and was a member and past president of the Queensland Guild of Furniture Manufacturers.
Rotary International District 9620 has honoured the memory of PRIP Glen Kinross AO by establishing an endowment fund within the RI foundation. An initial donation from reserves for US$30,000 was approved unanimously by district clubs in December 2024. In perpetuity, 50% of the income from the endowment will be returned as DDF to District 9620 for the support of district grants, global grants and other humanitarian projects from the district. The other 50% will be returned to the endowment to ensure the corpus grows over time.
Rotary districts are allowed to have one endowment of this type that returns funds to the district in perpetuity. We ask that all clubs in the district consider making a small donation annually to this endowment so that over time we can build up a stable and growing source of funds to support the projects of clubs within the district.