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many. However, for Trevor
“Trip” Manjak, it is simply his job. Having served the United
Nations in this capacity for the past six years, Trip Manjak has
gotten accustomed to not only Rome and its people and customs, but
to an increasingly demanding work schedule that would routinely
take up both day and some nights. Of course, ultimately
responsibility for FAO rests with the Director- General and not the
Deputy, but for Trip this is a trivial distinction. He performs his
job as if he were the Director-General and not the Deputy, for if
he were to make mistakes surely the outcome would be as harmful to
him as to the organization itself. That is why mistakes are to be
avoided.
     
    Every six years the Director-General is elected by
the Conference of Member States, the governing body of the FAO. The
Conference is composed of 169 member states, one associate member,
and one member organization (the European Union). Every two years
the Conference meets to review the work done by FAO within the
intervening period and to approve a Program of Work and Budget for
the next biennium. This year is one such year. Within three months
the next Conference meeting will be held, first to review the work
FAO has accomplished over the last two years and then to elect the
Director-General for the next six years. Trip had little doubt that
the incumbent, the Frenchman Maurice, would be selected again, and
in any case, he had little interest in putting the burden on
himself. No reason to promote yourself just yet. Too much work,
too little family time, and too much heckling. I am content with
what I am already tasked to do. And besides, within another 10
years I’ll find myself a quiet little desk job with few
responsibilities before finally retiring. Reading over another
report, Manjak ponders in the quiet solitude of his office.
     
    Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to a Serbian immigrant
father and an American mother of Italian descent, Manjak had always
had a purpose in life: To improve people’s lives . I’ve
always wanted to help others. In high school he was senior
class vice president, part of a community service organization, and
played in the school band. In college, he decided to pursue a most
fundamental drive in human beings. Food . Before shelter,
mating, and certainly before fire comes the need for food. Humans
need energy to live and food provides those crucial calories that
allow us to move around, thrive, breed, enjoy life and evolve. Trip
was curious about where all the food came from, how it was
produced, how it was transported, how production could be
maximized, and many other questions related to food. He was also
always hungry back in those days. Trip subsequently decided to
pursue a degree in agricultural science. Graduating Magna cum
Laude , he transferred to New Mexico State University to receive
his Ph.D. After that achievement he started working for the US
Department of Agriculture as a field operative for Food Safety and
Inspection Service. Soon afterwards he transferred to the Farm
Service Agency, before being promoted to National Agriculture
Statistics Service and then the Agricultural Research Service.
After that job he started working for the United Nations FAO. It
was always hard getting an American to high level positions in the
UN, due to a perceived notion that the US already has excess power
and advantage in the organization, mostly from providing a
significant portion of its funding. Nonetheless, he managed; and
now having spent over fifteen years with FAO now, he slowly rose to
the position of deputy Director-General by being known not as an
orator, or a visionary, but simply as a man who could get the job
done. If there was any task that needed attention, any job that
needed completion, or any project that needed oversight, Trip
Manjak made and maintained a reputation to get it done and within a
timely schedule.
     
    What a timely schedule really meant is- if a project
was estimated to be completed in