Charles U. Daly

Charles U. Daly, "a prominent leader of the American Ireland Fund and former assistant to President John F. Kennedy, has been named Irishman of the Year by the Friends of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

"Daly, a resident of Weston, MA and Bantry, Ireland, will be honored for his public service and outstanding contribution to the community at a reception and dinner at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on Tuesday, March 21, 2006...

"The Friends of the Kennedy Library were organized in the 1980s to help support the work of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The Irishman of the Year Award was established in 1986 to pay tribute to individuals of Irish heritage who contribute to their community. The award is presented annually by the Friends of the Kennedy Library to honor President Kennedy’s love of his own Irish heritage, and his belief that one person can make a difference and every person should try...

"In February 1994, Daly resigned from his position as Director of the Kennedy Library to become Executive Director of the Kennedy Library Foundation, the non-profit organization providing financial assistance and programmatic support to the federal institution. Under his stewardship, the Kennedy Library Foundation’s endowment grew from $8 million to $20 million. He retired as Executive Director of the Foundation on January 1, 2001.

"Mr. Daly, who shares his birthday with President John F. Kennedy, was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 29, 1927 and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He and his family maintain a home in Bantry, Ireland. A director of the American Ireland Fund, he has devoted the last quarter century of his life to bringing peace and economic justice to his native Ireland and ancestral home of President Kennedy...

"He was awarded an ppAmerican Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship in 1959-1960 during which time he served in the offices of Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Representative Stewart Udall of Arizona. In 1961, Daly was recruited to serve as staff assistant to President John F. Kennedy for Congressional Liaison, a position he continued to hold under President Lyndon Johnson until 1964.  In addition to serving in the White House, Daly was Vice President for Development and Public Affairs at the University of Chicago (1964-1969); founder and President of the [[Children's Foundation in Washington, D.C. (1969 to 1971); Vice President of Government and Community Affairs at Harvard (1971 -1976); and President of the Joyce Foundation in Chicago (1978 -1986).

"Since his retirement from the Kennedy Library Foundation in 2001, Daly has served on the Board of Directors of Independent News and Media, a Dublin-based international communications group that publishes over 175 titles in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and India. Independent’s combined weekly circulation is over 29 million copies with additional outreach coming via 70 online sites plus large radio and outdoor advertising operations.

"Mr. Daly is Independent’s Special Advisor on HIV/AIDS. In that post he has studied the impact of the pandemic at every level, including spending time with sufferers dying in areas of extreme poverty and considerable violence. With the strong support of colleagues he has used his experience to help the group take a leading public and private role in this struggle.

"Mr. Daly was married to the late Mary de Burgh Daly. He is married to Christine Sullivan Daly and is the father of four sons, Michael, Douglas, Charles, and Kevin."