Three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Ambassador Tony P. Hall has been awarded an alumni citation from his alma mater, Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In a ceremony that took place in June, Denison President Adam Weinberg presented Ambassador Hall with the highest honor conferred on a graduate or friend of the college.
Ambassador Hall is a leading advocate for hunger relief programs and improving human rights in the world. He is the executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger, which engages diverse institutions in building the public and political will to end hunger at home and abroad. The Alliance has more than 80 members — corporations, non-profit groups, universities, healthcare organizations, foundations, faith-based groups, and individuals. In his post with the Alliance, Ambassador Hall guides the work of Alliance staff, meets with Alliance members, and speaks on the issue of hunger at conferences around the country. Ambassador Hall meets regularly with members of Congress to encourage them to become more actively engaged on hunger issues. He also leads the Alliance’s engagement with the International Alliances Against Hunger and other civil society initiatives.
Ambassador Hall served as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome, Italy, from 2002 to 2005. Prior to his diplomatic service, Ambassador Hall represented the Third District of Ohio in the U.S. Congress for twenty-four years, their longest serving representative in history. During his tenure, he authored legislation that supported food aid, child survival, basic education, primary health care, micro-enterprise, and development assistance in the world’s poorest countries. A founding member of the Select Committee on Hunger, Ambassador Hall served as its chairman from 1989 to 1993. In response to the abolishment of the Hunger Committee in April 1993, he fasted for 22 days to draw attention to the needs of hungry people in the United States and around the world. Ambassador Hall founded and chaired the Congressional Hunger Center, a non-governmental organization committed to ending hunger through training and educational programs for emerging leaders.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Ambassador Hall and his wife Janet live in Arlington, Virginia, where they raised their two children.