Clifton R. Wharton Jr.
His research ranged from the supply response of Southeast Asian perennial crops and international trade to the economics of subsistence agriculture and the impact of the Green Revolution.Wharton was appointed chairman of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development at USAID by President Gerald Ford, where he served for eight years (1976–83) and was succeeded by E. T. York.He was also co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Economic Assistance, U.S. Department of State (1983), and member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Trade Policy (1991–92).Wharton has published articles in numerous professional journals and is the author of Subsistence Agriculture and Economic Development (Aldine Press 1969) and co-author with Theodore M. Hesburgh and Paul A. Miller of Patterns for Lifelong Learning (Jossey-Bass 1973).[11][12] A cartoon on the cover of the March 27, 1988 New York Times,[13] showed Wharton walking a tightrope across the chasm of Wall Street while carrying a safe whose contents of currency were spilling out.Robert Atwell, president of the American Council on Education, characterized Wharton's impact, "In no time at all, with dizzying speed turned all that around...I have probably never seen a more spectacular performance.Wharton served as deputy secretary of state (the number-two position in the department) from January 27 to November 8, 1993, under President Bill Clinton.[16] Wharton was a member and co-chairman of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, and was a trustee of the Clark Foundation, Bassett Hospital, and the American Assembly.He served as chairman of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, 1981–82, and received the President's Award on World Hunger in 1983.Wharton's Harvard University honorary degree of 1992 citation read, "One of the commanding leaders of our time, yours is the great talent to transform organizations into communities of purpose working devotedly together to serve the common good of all people from all backgrounds."