Peter Donaldson Named Acting President of the Population Council

NEW YORK (4 August 2004) — The Population Council announced the appointment of Peter J. Donaldson as acting president of the organization, following the resignation of Linda G. Martin from that post. The Council has launched its search process for a new chief executive, and information about the application process will be available on the Council Web site in late August.

Donaldson re-joined the Population Council in May 2003 after serving for nine years as the chief executive officer of the Washington, DC-based Population Reference Bureau. His first postdoctoral employment was with the Population Council as staff associate in Thailand (1973–75) and representative in South Korea (1975–77). He then spent eight years at Family Health International in North Carolina, where he served ultimately as director of development and government relations. From 1985 to 1989, he was director of the Committee on Population of the National Research Council. In 1989 he returned to the Population Council to become a senior associate and regional director for South and East Asia, once again located in Thailand.

In addition to his management and leadership responsibilities, Donaldson has engaged in numerous professional activities, including serving on the board of directors of the Population Association of America and on the council of the population section of the American Sociological Association. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Institute of Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Bangkok. Donaldson holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Brown University. He is the author, co-author, or editor of six books and more than 60 scientific and popular articles on population, development, Asian affairs, and other issues.

Anrudh Jain was appointed acting vice president and director of the International Programs Division, the largest division of the Population Council. He has had a leadership role in the management of the International Program Division for more than 20 years, most recently as senior director of policy and regional programs. He has been responsible for developing and implementing divisional policies and procedures and participating in strategic planning, management, and implementation of program activities. Jain joined the Population Council in 1971 as a staff associate based in Delhi, moved to the Council's Center for Biomedical Research in New York in 1973, and shifted to the International Program Division in 1976.