Ambassador Quinn is recognized for his service over several decades in confronting and countering genocide, especially in relation to the people of Cambodia and thereby championing values of humanity globally.
Speaking on the remarkable work done by Dr. Quinn that deserves recognition, Dr. Smith, CEO of the Aegis Trust, said, “It is truly remarkable to have someone who played such a leading role in responding to the humanitarian fallout of a genocide, in this case, the Genocide in Cambodia. He raised the alarm some two years prior to the genocide starting. Imagine if we had listened; imagine a world where we had used our ethical intelligence to invest in early prevention. And then, some years later, when he was U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, he developed an ingenious way to eradicate the remnants of the perpetrators of this mass murder. That is exceptional.”
Ambassador Quinn said, on accepting this award, “I am truly humbled to be recognized with this Award, named in memory of Steven Krulis. The incomparable suffering of the millions and millions of victims of genocide in the 20th century, in the Holocaust in the 1940s, in Rwanda in the 1990s and in Cambodia from 1974 to 1999, amongst others, is an indelible stain on human history. I want to express my most profound gratitude to Dr. James Smith and the Aegis Trust for this extraordinary honor that they are bestowing upon me, and my unending admiration in all that the Aegis Trust is doing to ensure that future genocides do not occur again in the 21st century or beyond.”
Thomas Krulis, son of Steven Krulis, in whose memory this award is being given, said, “Our family very much appreciates that my father’s life is being honored. He was a great man, who survived the horrors of Auschwitz and the Holocaust, teaching me what it is to be a champion of humanity. We survived and prospered because of his humanity and the humanity of others. To my dad, may you be comforted in the knowledge that in your memory something really positive has begun.”
Ambassador Quinn currently serves as president of the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
Distinguished guests invited include Rwandan Government officials, Diplomatic corps, members of civil society and delegations from neighboring countries community in particular where Aegis Trust has been establishing its work in Genocide prevention and Peace education like South Sudan, Kenya and the Central African Republic.
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