The Rochester Review, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA

They Work for 'the Largest and Oldest Refugee Organization in the World'

"There are about 18 million refugees in the world today and another 18 million who are displaced persons--so that's roughly 35 or 40 million people who are displaced from their homes tonight," says  Alan Batkin  '66, describing his volunteer work for the International Rescue Committee, serving as a board member and chair of the finance committee.

"It's a staggering number of people, and I want to do every little bit I can to help."

Guy Wyser-Pratte  '62 is another committed volunteer and board member. He explains, "No other organization can organize, gear up, recognize the imminence of disaster, and move like the IRC. That's why the UN and the State Department recognize it as the leading organization worldwide to take care of refugees."

Wyser-Pratte now chairs the Early Warning and Crisis Watch Subcommittee. "We have to be on the alert for specific situations--it's a matter of getting reports from various agencies, trying to identify where emergencies may occur. North Korea, for example, is about to implode--their economy is collapsing and we may have a disaster situation there."

Professionally, both men work in New York City, where Wyser-Pratte is an investment manager with his family firm, Wyser-Pratte and Company, Inc. Batkin, who also serves as a University trustee, is vice chairman of Kissinger Associates and became involved with the IRC through his boss, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

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