Today on Legacy Leavers, I’m honored to sit down with a local AND global leader whose life’s work has bridged diplomacy, humanitarian service and the fight against hunger - Ambassador Kenneth Quinn.  

Ambassador Quinn has spent decades serving both our country and our world. A career diplomat with the U.S. Foreign Service for more than 30 years, he served in critical roles across Southeast Asia, including six years in Vietnam during the war, and later as the United States Ambassador to Cambodia.

But Ken’s legacy is also deeply rooted here in Iowa. After retiring from the State Department, he returned to Des Moines in 2000 to lead the World Food Prize Foundation. Over the next two decades, he helped elevate the World Food Prize into a globally recognized award - often described as the “Nobel Prize for food and agriculture” - and oversaw the creation of the stunning Borlaug Hall of Laureates right here in the center of our city.   

Along the way, Ken has received countless honors for courage, leadership and humanitarian service—including the State Department’s Award for Heroism and the Iowa Award, our state’s highest citizen honor.   

Ambassador Quinn’s story is one of extraordinary courage, global impact and serve as proof that Iowans can, indeed, change the world. 

Links from the episode 

Ambassador Quinn’s Bio 

Ambassador Quinn’s Video Memoir 

United States Foreign Service 

United States Embassy in Cambodia 

World Food Prize Foundation 

World Food Prize Hall of Laureates 

Kenneth Quinn in Detail