(Radio Iowa) – A Des Moines businessman and philanthropist who has been chairman of the Des Moines-based World Food Prize Foundation has died at the age of 78 after a long illness. For more than two decades, John Ruan the third led the family-owned Ruan Transportation Management Systems, Bankers Trust. The trucking company his father started in 1932 now employs 56-hundred people. The Ruans have been the main benefactors of the World Food Prize and John Ruan the third has been the World Food Prize Foundation’s chairman.

A news release from the Ruan companies says Ruan’s son — John Ruan the fourth — assumed the role of chairman of the Ruan companies in August, as part of the family’s succession plan. The 36-story Ruan Center is a familiar landmark in downtown Des Moines. The president and C-E-O of Bankers Trust describes John Ruan the third as a forward-thinking leader who did not seek the limelight, but who had a significant impact on central Iowa.