June 2005

Remembering Board Chairman Rodney B. Wagner

Rodney B. Wagner, a member of the Population Council’s board of trustees since 1996 and its chairman since 2001, died of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 24 in a Florida hospital, surrounded by his wife and children.

Council president Peter J. Donaldson, who had worked closely with Wagner, said: “Rod was exceptionally thoughtful and generous, and he cared deeply about the Council. He was a forceful advocate for improving reproductive health and rights in the United States and around the world. He was also deeply committed to improving the lives of poor families in developing countries. Rod demonstrated this commitment through his work with the Council and other nonprofit organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, where he was a trustee for almost two decades. He also served on the boards of the American University of Beirut, the Friends of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, the Lewis T. Preston Education Fund for Girls, and Sesame Workshop.”

Wagner joined J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1954 after receiving a B.A. degree from Yale University. For much of his career, he worked with clients in developing countries. Wagner served for three years as general manager of Bank Almashrek in Beirut, a Lebanese bank in which Morgan held a minority interest, before being named to head J.P. Morgan’s Middle East and Africa unit in 1976. From 1979 to 1984, he also oversaw the firm’s business in the East Asia and Pacific region. He became vice chairman of the Credit Policy Committee in 1984.

In 1962 Wagner joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, D.C., first as deputy director and then as director of the Office of Capital Development and Finance in the Near East. In 1965 he served as deputy director of the USAID mission in Ankara, Turkey.

Wagner was named Morgan’s vice chairman and director and became a member of the Corporate Office, the firm’s senior policy and planning group, in 1993; he retired in 1996.

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