Milling & Baking News - November 12, 2013 - 14

People 

Walter Klein, longtime head of
Bunge Corp., dies at 95
NEW YORK - Walter C. Klein, retired president and chief executive officer of Bunge Corp., died Oct. 28 at
the age of 95.
Mr. Klein headed the North American business of Bunge Group (what is
now Bunge Ltd.) for three decades, assuming the top role at the company in
1959. During the time he led the company, Bunge diversified business from
its grain exporting roots into a soybean processor, dry corn miller and
a major producer of shortenings and
oils as well as a producer and marketer of other products for bakers, food
processors and restaurants. Additionally, he was involved in the expansion
of Bunge Group into Asia.
The breadth of change effected by Mr.
Klein was summarized in a 2001 interview with his son John E. Klein, who
headed Bunge North America for 18
years after his father's retirement in 1985.
"I took over a little more than 15
years ago from my father and his

great effort in creating something that
wasn't there before," Mr. Klein said.
"He took a trading house and really
industrialized the company."
Even as Bunge broadened its U.S.
activities, the export business was an
area of focus through the career of the
elder Mr. Klein. The U.S. mid-South
was an area of growth with Bunge establishing a network of grain and oilseed elevators between St. Louis and
the Gulf of Mexico during Mr. Klein's
tenure. Also built while he led Bunge
was the company's Destrehan export
elevator in the port of New Orleans.
In a 1985 interview with Milling &
Baking News, Mr. Klein spoke of the importance of restoring the United States
to its leadership position in grain exports rather than the role of residual
supplier to which the United States had
been relegated. An advocate for free
trade, he also emphasized the importance of "fair trade" in his pragmatic
support for what would become known

as the Export Enhancement Program.
"Exports have to be revived, and the
only way we can revive exports is to
sell at the world market price," he said.
Born in New York, Mr. Klein's parents moved to Vienna, Austria, for a
period of time when he was a teenager, and he attended high school there.
He entered Harvard College in 1936,
graduating in three years.
He held positions with Swift & Co.
in Chicago and Argentina before joining Bunge in 1947. Most of his career
was spent with Bunge in New York.
Mr. Klein was predeceased in 1991
by his first wife Mary Kennard Eddy
Klein and by a son, Walter (Terry)
Klein Jr. He is survived by his second
wife Virgilia Pancoast Klein and children, Margaret K. Klein and John E.
Klein and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at
3.p.m on Monday, Dec. 2 at St. James
Episcopal Church in New York at 865
Madison Avenue at 71st Street. In lieu
of flowers, memorials may be sent
to the Central Park Conservancy or
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan
New Jersey. MBN

Kerwin Brown recognized
for leadership

the

ingredient
& blending
solution.

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national distribution

B.C. Williams Bakery Service
BCW Food Products
800.527.4104

www.bcwilliams.com

a baking tradition since 1935.
14 / November 12, 2013 Milling & Baking News

OVERLAND PARK, KAS. - Kerwin
Brown, president and chief executive
officer of BEMA, has been named the
2013 Distinguished Association Executive by the Kansas City
chapter of the Society
for Association Executives. The award is presented to an association
c.e.o. "who exemplifies
the best in executive association management Brown
and who continually
brings credit to the profession and the
association management community."
Mr. Brown has been a member of
the A.S.A.E. and K.C.S.A.E. for seven
years. He earned his designation as a
certified association executive in 2010.
During his time with the K.C.S.A.E. he
has volunteered for the program committee, serving as the assistant chairman, and recently was voted to serve
on the K.C.S.A.E.'s board of directors.
Callie Castro of the American Academy of Family Physicians nominated
Mr. Brown for the award, saying "he
is someone that I look up to and value
as a mentor in the association world.
He is well respected and thought of
highly by his association colleagues,
industry peers, and staff." MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bcwilliams.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - November 12, 2013

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