Rotary President Mark Maloney Dismisses Suggestions Of Personal Greatness

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Visiting with Rotary International President Mark Maloney is a bit like visiting with an old friend. He is absolutely without pretense despite being the elected leader of 1.2 million Rotarians around the world.

Having contributed 34 years to the fight to eradicate polio, he emphasizes his role as one of the million rather than allowing he might be one in a million.

While acknowledging that 2019’s polio case count is up from 2017 and 2018, he is confidently optimistic that Rotary—with help from its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative—will complete the task soon.

Interview with Mark Daniel Maloney, the President of Rotary International.

The following is the pre-interview with Mark Daniel Maloney. Be sure to watch the recorded interview above.

What is your personal or professional connection to polio?

Rotary’s long-term, sustained battle against polio has defined our organization for decades.

Where are you presently focused?

In 1988, polio was endemic in 125 countries, with more than 350,000 new cases a year worldwide. Since then, Rotary and our Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners have reduced the incidence of polio by more than 99.9 percent, and vaccinated more than 2.5 billion children against the virus.

Now only Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to report cases of the wild virus, and eradication is within grasp, but we still have work to do.

We will end polio forever, but only if we remain steadfast and vigilant. World Polio Day is a time for Rotary and supporters from all over the globe to come together, recognize the progress we have made in our fight against polio, and plan the action we must take to end polio forever.

How do we get from where we are to total polio eradication?

Looking at all we’ve accomplished so far, I’m optimistic that the end of polio is within our grasp, but we must remain steadfast and vigilant as we address the remaining challenges to eradication.

When we reach our goal, polio will become only the second human disease eradicated on the planet, and children will never again have to face this terrible, disabling virus. Rotary must continue to connect the world in the effort toward polio eradication. It is up to us. Let us finish the job.

More about Rotary International:

Twitter: @EndPolioNow and @Rotary

Facebook: facebook.com/EndPolioNow

Instagram: @rotaryinternational

Website: www.rotary.org and www.endpolio.org

Rotary brings together people of action from all continents and cultures who deliver real, long-term solutions to the world’s most persistent issues. Each year, Rotary members contribute millions of dollars and volunteer hours to promote health, peace and prosperity in communities across the globe. Rotary is the driving force behind efforts to eradicate polio. With its partners, they have achieved a 99.9 percent reduction in polio, with less than 35 cases reported in 2018 compared with 350,000 a year three decades ago.

Mark Daniel Maloney. Photo Credit: Rotary International

Mark Daniel Maloney’s bio:

Instagram: @rotaryinternational

Mark Daniel Maloney is a principal in the law firm of Blackburn, Maloney, and Schuppert LLC, with a focus on taxation, estate planning, and agricultural law. He represents large farming operations in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, and has chaired the American Bar Association’s Committee on Agriculture in the section of taxation. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Alabama State Bar Association, and the Alabama Law Institute.

He has been active in Decatur’s religious community, chairing his church’s finance council and a local Catholic school board. He has also served as president of the Community Foundation of Greater Decatur, chair of Morgan County Meals on Wheels, and director of the United Way of Morgan County and the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce.

A Rotarian since 1980, Maloney has served as an RI director; Foundation trustee and vice chair; and aide to 2003-04 RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe. He also has participated in the Council on Legislation as chair, vice chair, parliamentarian, and trainer. He was an adviser to the 2004 Osaka Convention Committee and chaired the 2014 Sydney Convention Committee.

Prior to serving as a district governor, Maloney led a Group Study Exchange to Nigeria.

He also served as Future Vision Committee vice chair; Foundation training institute moderator; Foundation permanent fund national adviser; member of the Peace Centers Committee; and adviser to the Foundation’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Schools Target Challenge Committee.

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