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INTRODUCTION OF ANDREW YOUNG By Robert P. Forrestal, President Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta To the FRB Atlanta Regional Conference on Southeastern Economic Development Atlanta, Georgia March 26, 1992 Nothing could please me more than to introduce to you our luncheon speaker this afternoon. When we speak of a ‘citizen of the world,’ we usually mean a person who moves easily amongst people of many cultures and nationalities and, in turn, is well known throughout the world as a flame-bearer of diplomacy, high principles, and cultural respect. To say that Andy Young is a citizen of the world is merely to begin to describe his attributes. In his most recent public capacity, Andy served quite literally as a flame-bearer by helping to carry the 1996 Olympic torch to the city of Atlanta. It is widely recognized that without his persistence and his understanding of international dynamics, Atlanta could just as easily have been a runner-up for the prize. He now serves as co-chairman of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. To go back to the beginning of his career in public service, before Andrew Young became known in the intentional arena, he first established himself in his own country. After graduating from Howard University and the Hartford Theological Seminary, he became the pastor of several small Congregational churches in Alabama and Georgia. He began to receive national recognition in 1961 when he returned to Atlanta to work as a top aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In this capacity, he was known 2 for being the mediator, a person who could get blacks and whites to come to terms on concrete issues. Entering national politics, Andy was elected to three terms in Congress before he was chosen by President Jimmy Carter to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations. At the U.N., he once again demonstrated his ability to mediate and to understand both sides of an argument while still holding firmly to the principles in which he believed. By showing that he had the courage of his convictions, he won the admiration of people across the political and economic spectrums—in both the East and West as well as the developing countries. Returning once again to Atlanta, he served two terms as mayor of this city. During that time, I had the honor of co-chairing with Andy a task force on downtown housing. Although I had known of his great vision in dealing with national and global issues, this experience led me to appreciate his insights into economic development at the grass roots level. At the same time, he got Atlantans thinking about business opportunities abroad-not only in Europe but also in Africa and Latin America. But his leadership was not merely in the realm of good ideas. Rather, he is a pragmatist and a doer. One of the reasons we asked Andy to speak today about the global dimensions of economic development is that, during his administration, more than half a million jobs were created in the metropolitan area, and it attracted more than $70 billion dollars in private investment and construction. Andy now heads up the international subsidiary of Law Companies Group, Inc., an 3 engineering and environmental consulting company based here in Atlanta. He also serves on a number of boards, including the Global Infrastructure Fund and the Center for Global Partnership. Obviously, as a well-respected internationalist, Andy Young can speak cogently about the need for thinking globally as we try to devise new strategies for economic development in the Southeast. Please join me in welcoming a remarkable human being and citizen of the world, the Honorable Andrew Young.
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