2012 Honorary Degree
Kathy Fitchey Calvin
Doctor of Social Sciences
Kathy Fitchey Calvin is the chief executive officer of the United Nations Foundation. The Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support U.N. causes and activities. It advocates for the U.N. and connects people, ideas, and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. As a public charity with many other partners, the U.N. Foundation's work is focused on decreasing child mortality, empowering women and girls, creating a clean energy future, protecting diverse cultures and environments, using mobile technology for development, and improving U.S.-U.N. relations. Calvin joined the Foundation in 2003 and was promoted to CEO in 2009.
Prior to joining the U.N. Foundation, Calvin served as president of the AOL Time Warner Foundation, where she guided AOL Time Warner's other philanthropic activities and was the chief architect of the company's corporate responsibility initiatives. She joined America Online in 1997 as senior vice president and chief communications officer.
Immediately prior to joining AOL, she was a senior managing director at Hill and Knowlton, a global public relations company, where she led the U.S. Media Relations practice. For 12 years before that, she was the director of editorial administration for U.S. News & World Report. From 1976 through 1984, Calvin served as Senator Gary Hart's press secretary in his senate office and 1984 presidential campaign.
Throughout her career, Calvin has taken an active role in a range of philanthropic activities, including the boards of the International Women's Media Foundation, City Year, Internews, Share Our Strength, and the United Nations Association of the United States of America. In 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appointed Calvin to a three-year term on the East-West Center's Board of Governors. The center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific.
Calvin earned a bachelor's degree in speech pathology/audiology from Purdue University in 1971. She is the recipient of numerous awards for leadership and philanthropy. She was recognized in 2011 by Newsweek magazine as one of 150 Women Who Shake the World.
Calvin serves on Purdue's Foundation Development Council and was honored by Purdue in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Liberal Arts.
