Northern Ireland Project Director
For his decisive leadership and daring diplomacy in spurring two cease-fires and promoting the peace process in Northern Ireland, Flynn received the National Committee's inaugural Initiative for Peace Award in 1997 (renamed the William J. Flynn Initiative for Peace Award in 2001). Flynn is also chairman emeritus of Mutual of America, chairman of the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy and president of Flax Trust America. He is a member of the board of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board, and the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation. He has also served as chairman of the Advisory Committee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, president of the board of the New York Foundling Hospital, and member of the boards of Boston University and Fordham University, and the U.S. Army War College. William J. Flynn is the recipient of Brandeis University's Distinguished Community Services Award and the Ubi Caritas Deus Ibi Award-the highest honor of Catholic Charities. In the spring of 1995 Mr. Flynn received an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the College of New Rochelle. In the fall of 1995 Mr. Flynn received the Sisters of Saint Dominic's Veritas Award, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Ireland United States Council, and the Insurance Federation of New York's Free Enterprise Award. In the fall of 1996, he received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from College Misericordia and Sacred Heart University. In early 1998 Mr. Flynn received the Club of Champions Gold Medal Award from the Catholic Youth Organization, and in the spring of that year, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. In November of 1999, Mr. Flynn was selected by Irish America Magazine as one of The Greatest Irish-Americans of the Century. Mr. Flynn was among the honorees at the December 1999 Peace Links gala in Washington, DC for his help to broker peace in Ireland. Early in 2001 Mr. Flynn received The Outstanding Civilian Service Medal from the Department of the Army for extraordinary service as an expert consultant on the U.S. Army War College Board of Visitors. In March of 2003 Mr. Flynn was awarded the John F. Kennedy National Achievement Award by the St. Patrick's Committee of Holyoke, Massachusetts. In making the announcement, the President of the St. Patrick's Committee said, "William Flynn, by far, surpasses any criteria that may be set as a measurement for success in a person's professional or personal life. Mr. Flynn has succeeded in business while demonstrating a continued commitment to human rights issues, not just in Ireland, but around the world." In September 2005 the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding presented Mr. Flynn with a Special Peacemaker in Action Award "for a lifetime devoted to conflict resolution." William J. Flynn is the coauthor (with George D. Schwab) of Journey to Belfast and London, which was published by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in February 1999.