Edward B. Marks, 94; Helped Resettle Refugees All Over the World
Edward B. Marks, 94, who spent more than 50 years helping refugees around the world find new homes, died of heart disease and renal failure Oct. 8 at his home in Mill Valley, Calif.
Born in New York City, Marks graduated from Dartmouth College and received a master’s degree in sociology from Columbia University. He began his career as a journalist with the American Wine and Liquor Journal. But from 1938 on, most of his attention was focused on refugee issues.
During World War II, he worked for the War Relocation Authority, which cared for Japanese Americans on the West Coast who were forced into internment camps. After the war, Marks worked for the United Nations International Refugee Organization, aiding displaced people in Europe.
In 1958, he became the first executive director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, established to coordinate the efforts of American agencies on behalf of refugees during the U.N. World Refugee Year.
Marks went on to serve in Africa for the Agency for International Development’s Africa bureau, resettling refugees from the civil war in Nigeria. He later worked in Vietnam.
He also worked for UNICEF and became deputy director of the secretariat for the 1979 U.N. International Year of the Child.
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