Rotary Minute

Did You Know?

In a speech at Rotary's first convention, held in Chicago in 1910, Rotary Club of Chicago member Arthur Frederick Sheldon said, "He profits most who serves his fellows best." The organization's first motto, He Profits Most Who Serves Best, was approved at the next year's convention, in Portland, Ore. During an outing there, Ben Collins, President of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, mentioned that his club had adopted, Service, Not Self as its guiding principle. Rotary founder Paul Harris asked Collins to address the convention, and the phrase was met with great enthusiasm. Slightly modified versions of the two phrases were formally approved as Rotary's official mottoes at the 1950 convention. In 1989, the Council on Legislation established Service Above Self as Rotary's principal motto.

For more about Rotary history, visit www.rotary.org/history.