Scotsman takes office as president of Rotary International from 1st July
New Delhi — Gordon McInally, member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry, Lothian, Scotland, began his one-year term as president of Rotary International (RI) starting July 2023. Subsequently, from India, Anirudh Roy Chowdhury, member, Rotary Club of Calcutta Mega City and T.N. Raju Subramanian, member, Rotary Club of Deonar, have been appointed as RI Directors for 2023-25.
During his term, McInally will focus on steering the global membership service organization with an emphasis on mental health, recognizing its critical role in community well-being worldwide. McInally aims to create a culture that understands and supports mental health, while working to reduce stigma, increase awareness, and improve access to mental health services.
With 1.4 million members in 200 countries and regions, Rotary will continue to actively address mental health as part of its ongoing efforts to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges.
A member of Rotary since 1984, McInally has been president and vice president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. McInally and his wife, Heather, are Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation. They are also members of the Bequest Society.
“Mental health has often been a less talked-about aspect of wellness. However, in a world grappling with various challenges, it is imperative that we bring mental health to the forefront. Rotary, with its widespread network, has the capacity to foster dialogue and support,” said McInally. “By emphasizing mental health, we can make a considerable difference in communities around the world. This is about nurturing humanity for a better tomorrow.”
Roy Chowdhury joined Rotary as a charter member of his club in 1994. During his tenure as district governor, he added 450 members and 11 new clubs and helped raise district contributions to The Rotary Foundation to $613,000. Passionate about promoting literacy through Rotary, He has also helped lead Rotary Foundation global grant projects to train doctors in Lesotho in orthopedics and eye surgery.
“At Rotary, we understand that cultivating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture is essential in realizing world where people unite and take action to create lasting change. We value diversity and continue to learn and do better.
We are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. We look forward to empowering communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation”, Roy Chowdhury added.
T.N. “Raju” Subramanian is a senior counsel, working in India’s High Court and Supreme Court systems. Subramanian joined Rotary in 1987 as a charter member of his club. He has volunteered in club projects ranging from administering polio vaccine during National Immunization Days to supporting his club’s global grants project that provides free pediatric heart surgery in low-income communities. He has also taken on pro bono work representing clients in AIDS discrimination cases as well as environmental cases.
Talking about his focus as a new RI Director, Mr Subramanian said, “Rotary has a remarkable record when it comes to health initiatives. We’ve helped bring polio to the brink of eradication, and clubs have carried out myriad projects focused on preventing disease and supporting maternal and child health. The global pandemic has brought attention to another aspect of health that has been overlooked for too long is mental health. In many places, depression, anxiety, and suicide are seen as things to be ashamed of and kept quiet. The involvement of Rotary clubs will gradually reduce the stigma, and more and more people will begin to be comfortable around the issue.”
Rotary members—including those in nearly 200 Rotary clubs in Scotland, nearly 4000 in India, as well as throughout the world–develop and implement sustainable, community-driven projects that fight disease, promote peace, provide clean water, support education, save mothers and children, grow local economies and protect the environment. More than US$5.5 billion has been awarded through The Rotary Foundation – Rotary’s charitable arm that helps clubs work together to perform meaningful, impactful service—to support these initiatives over the last 100 years.
As head of Rotary’s global network of 46,000 clubs, McInally will also oversee Rotary’s top goal of eradicating polio. Alongside its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, Rotary has achieved a 99.9% reduction in polio cases, and contributed more than US$2.6 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children from this paralyzing disease.