1979

The Rotary Foundation funds the first Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grant: a project to immunize six million Philippine children against polio. RI President James L. Bomar signs an agreement with the Philippine government to begin immunization and administers the first drops of vaccine to a Philippine child. The grant sets the stage for Rotary's decades-long commitment to the eradication of polio.

Read about 3-H grants

1985

Rotary launches PolioPlus to fund the operational, social mobilization, and training efforts required to eradicate polio. It is unveiled at the annual RI Convention, where Dr. Albert Sabin, who discovered the oral polio vaccine, urges Rotarians to maintain their commitment to immunization around the world. Sabin warns that without action, there could be an additional eight million cases of residual paralytic polio worldwide by 2005.

Read about the history of PolioPlus

1987

Women join Rotary. On 4 May, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Rotary International may not exclude women from membership based on gender. Hundreds of women across the United States are admitted to Rotary. The club that started the legal battle, the Rotary Club of Duarte, California, is reinstated after its termination in 1978 for admitting women.

In 1989, the Council on Legislation votes to eliminate the requirement that club membership be limited to males, permitting clubs worldwide to admit women.

1988

Rotarians raise US$247 million through a PolioPlus fundraising campaign. Their generosity inspires the World Health Assembly, convened annually by the World Health Organization , to adopt a resolution to eradicate polio by 2000. The resolution paves the way for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative , the largest internationally coordinated public health program to date. Rotary International is among the first to commit funds to the initiative.

Watch a video about Rotary's commitment to polio

1989

Rotary returns to Hungary and Poland. The Rotary Club of Budapest, originally admitted to Rotary in 1925 and terminated in 1942, is readmitted on 25 January. The Rotary Club of Warszawa, originally admitted in 1931and terminated in 1940, is readmitted on 30 June.

Many European Rotary clubs disbanded during World War II because of wartime restrictions on travel and communication. Once clubs could no longer fulfill Rotary's meeting and communication requirements, Rotary International was forced to terminate them.

1995

The first women begin their terms of service as district governors. The eight women are Mimi Altman, District 6440 (Illinois, USA); Gilda Chirafisi, District 7230 (Bermuda; New York, USA); Janet W. Holland, District 5790 (Texas, USA); Reba F. Lovrien, District 5520 (New Mexico; Texas, USA); Virginia B. Nordby, District 6380 (Ontario, Canada; Michigan, USA); Donna J. Rapp, District 6310 (Michigan, USA); Anne Robertson, District 6710 (Kentucky, USA); and Olive P. Scott, District 7190 (New York, USA).