Kalyan Banerjee, a member of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, India, since 1972, is President of Rotary International in 2011-12.

Banerjee said he would like to see Rotary "blossom from being the world's most recognized service organization to being the most important NGO [nongovernmental organization] in the world.

"Rotary, it is said, has the strength of a government and the tenderness of a parent," he added.

Banerjee is a director of United Phosphorus Limited, the largest agrochemical manufacturer in India, and the chair of United Phosphorus (Bangladesh) Limited. He is a member of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Chemical Society, a past president of Vapi Industries Association, and former chair of the Gujarat chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, in 1964.

Banerjee has served Rotary as a director, Rotary Foundation trustee, committee and task force chair, International Assembly group discussion leader, president's representative, and district governor.

The chair of the Southeast Asia Regional PolioPlus Committee, Banerjee has served as a member of the International PolioPlus Committee for many years and has attended international meetings with the World Health Organization and UNICEF in that capacity.

Banerjee is a Major Donor, Benefactor, and Bequest Society member, and has been awarded the Foundation's Citation for Meritorious Service and its Distinguished Service Award.

Banerjee also serves as a trustee of Rotary club-sponsored trusts that support many educational and community development programs in India, including a 250-bed hospital.

He noted that Rotary's strengths include its ability to attract leaders from different vocations around the world, as well as its role in promoting peace. "Rotary needs to become the preferred organization for today's generation to join and participate in, to make the world better and safer and happier," he said.

Banerjee's wife, Binota, is a social worker and Inner Wheel club member. The couple have two children and four grandchildren.