ELCA News Blog
October 10, 2006
Whisenant appointed acting president of LWR
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service
Jeff Whisenant, vice president for finance and administration of Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, has been appointed to serve as acting president of LWR beginning Nov. 1. Kathryn Wolford resigned as LWR president effective Oct. 31 to become president of The McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, starting Dec. 1. LWR is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
Whisenant served in a number of positions at LWR from 1987 to 1999, including senior program director, program director for Latin America and assistant program director for Africa. He returned to LWR in early 2006 after serving as vice president for program operations at Pact, Inc., Washington, D.C. Whisenant also held leadership positions at ORBIS International in New York. A former Peace Corps volunteer in the Gabonese Republic, he earned master's degrees in public and nonprofit management at New York University and in international political economy and development at Fordham University, New York. Whisenant earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"I look forward to working with our board, staff and partners to continue to extend LWR's programs, serving as a bridge until the permanent president is in place," said Whisenant. LWR's board of directors appointed Whisenant. Elizabeth (Betty) Duda, chair, appointed a three-person committee to manage the nationwide search for a new LWR president.
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