Making the world a better place

An interview with Johannean Jack Ling

By: Principal Tim Brook

To talk to Jack Ling, as my wife and I did this spring in

his New York apartment, you have to conclude that making

the world a better place is simply the most natural thing

for Johanneans.

Jack is a public health specialist
who has devoted his life to
addressing global health issues.
This is what he most wanted

to talk about during our time
together, though he was happy
to reminisce about his Shanghai
school days at St. John’s.

Jack attended the high school
while Shanghai was under
Japanese occupation. His high
school memories included
cheating on his Japanese tests—
but everyone did. Even the
teacher turned a blind eye. Jack

went on to St. John’s University,
becoming editor of the school
newspaper. He had to leave
before he could graduate when
his family moved to Hong

Kong in 1949.

His experience with the school
newspaper led Jack into journal-
ism. Fluent in Mandarin,
Cantonese, Shanghainese, and
English, he could talk to

practically everyone. He quickly
earned a reputation for getting
good stories, and later became
the only Hong Kong journalist

to cover the Korean War.

As the result of a chance inter-
view with a UNICEF official,
however, Jack switched course
and joined the Fund, working
first in Bangkok and eventually in
New York. Jack remained with
UNICEF for the next two
decades, minus time taken to
finish his undergraduate

degree at Syracuse University
and earn an M.A. from Stanford.
He also worked for a time with
the World Health Organization,
ending up as a clinical professor
of public health at Tulane
University.

Though impressive, the past

was not Jack’s focus. What domi-
nated our conversation was his
current passion: iodine deficien-
cy. As chair of the International

Council for the Control of lodine
Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD)
since 2001, Jack has been at the
forefront of educating the public
and lobbying governments to
deal with the worldwide problem
of inadequate diet. He explained
that iodine deficiency affects
foetal development, particularly
foetal intelligence. The solution
is simple and inexpensive: add

iodine to salt. Yet getting govern-

ments to do this has been
complex. Jack praised Canada
for taking the lead in legislating
iodization, but also noted that

China has moved the percentage

of iodized salt consumers from

30% to 95% in a matter of years.

However, Jack’s real concern is
with the last five percent—most
of whom live in the most back-

ward parts of China. By consum-
ing cheap, non-iodized salt man-
ufactured by small producers, the

most compromised five percent
are consigning themselves to
further marginalization. These
are the people who must be
reached, but it is not easy.

“Development is a very frustrating

experience,” Jack admitted.

Success depends on

mobilizing those who are in
need. “Development means
getting people involved,

otherwise it cannot succeed.”

As he is the first to admit, the
world has changed since Jack was
a student in Shanghai, but he
feels strongly that the direction
of change has been positive.

“In my day we still lived under
colonialism, but today we no
longer even think of colonialism.”
In the new world that he has
had his part in making, Jack is
the perfect postcolonial cos-
mopolitan, as much at home in
New York and Geneva as he
would be in Shanghai or Hong
Kong. He credits St. John’s for
this adaptability.

“What made St. John’s special
was that we straddled two cul-
tures,” he said. “This means that
we are able to cope with changing

environments.”

Jack Ling has used the advantages
St. John’s gave him to change the
world for the better, and looks to
the next generation of Johanneans
to do the same.