The United Nations Foundation is governed by a small
and cohesive Board of Directors who share a commitment
to the goals and objectives of the UN Charter and
the UN's work on behalf of economic, social, environmental
and humanitarian causes.
R.
E. Turner, Chairman of the Board
(U.S.A.) Chairman, Turner Enterprises
Ted Turner is the Chairman of Turner Enterprises,
Inc. and former Vice Chairman of Time Warner
Inc., the world's leading media company. He
is the founder of CNN, an environmentalist,
and a philanthropist. Turner created the UN
Foundation 1998 with his historic gift in
support of the United Nations. He has said
that his gift is an "investment in the
future of humanity." Click
here for complete Bio
Timothy
E. Wirth (U.S.A.) President,
United Nations Foundation and Better World
Fund
Senator Wirth was chosen by Mr. Turner to
run the UN Foundation because of his extensive
experience and knowledge of international
issues, particularly the environment and reproductive
health. Senator Wirth spent more than 20 years
in the United States Congress, representing
Colorado both in the House of Representatives
and the Senate. Click
here for complete Bio Click
here for relevant speeches
Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah (Jordan) Chair, Jordan River Foundation
Her Majesty channels her energies behind initiatives
that aim to improve the livelihood various
sectors of society in Jordan and beyond. Her
activities encompass issues such as education,
health, youth, and the environment, among
others. Click
here for complete Bio
Kofi
Annan (Ghana) Former Secretary-General
of the United Nations
2001 Nobel Peace Prize
Kofi A. Annan of Ghana, the seventh Secretary-General
of the United Nations, served from 1997 to
2006 and was the first to emerge from the
ranks of United Nations staff. One of Mr.
Annan's main priorities as Secretary-General
was a comprehensive
program of reform aimed at revitalizing the
United Nations and making the international
system more effective. Click
here for complete Bio
Gro Harlem
Brundtland (Norway) Director-General Emeritus, World Health
Organization
A medical doctor and Master of Public Health
(MPH), Gro Harlem Brundtland spent 10 years
as a physician and scientist in the Norwegian
public health system. For more than 20 years
she was in public office, 10 of them as
Prime Minister. In the 1980s she gained
international recognition, championing the
principle of sustainable development as
the chair of the World Commission of Environment
and Development (the Brundtland Commission). Click
here for complete Bio
Yuan
Ming (China) Director, Institute of International Relations,
Peking University Professor Yuan Ming was originally
trained as a student of western language and
literature at Peking University. Prior to
her graduate work, she spent eight years in
the rural areas in Northwest China. Click
here for complete Bio
N.
R. Narayana Murthy (India) Chairman
and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited N.R. Narayana Murthy is the Chairman
of Infosys Technologies Limited. Before assuming
his current position, he served as CEO of
Infosys for twenty years. Mr. Murthy is the
chairman of the governing body of both the
Indian Institute of Information Technology
and the Indian Institute of Management. He
has led the corporate governance initiatives
in India. He serves on numerous boards of
organizations in the U.S. and in several Asian
nations. Click
here for complete Bio
Hisashi
Owada (Japan) Judge, International
Court of Justice
In addition to his position at the International
Court of Justice, Hisashi Owada is also an
advisor to the Japanese Minister of Foreign
Affairs and a Senior Advisor to the President
of the World Bank. Mr. Owada has served in
various posts in the foreign service of Japan,
spending a large part of his career on legal
as well as United Nations affairs, on the
United States, and on the Soviet Union. Click here
for complete Bio
Emma
Rothschild (U.K.) Director of the Centre for History and
Economics at King's College, University of
Cambridge and Harvard University, and Professor
of History at Harvard University
In addition to her positions at Harvard and
King’s College, she has been a member
of the United Kingdom government's Council
for Science and Technology, and of the Royal
Commission on Environmental Pollution. From
1999 to 2005 she was chairman of the United
Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
Click
here for complete Bio
Nafis
Sadik (Pakistan) Special
Advisor to the UN Secretary-General
In 1987, Dr. Sadik was appointed Executive
Director of UNFPA, with the rank of Under-Secretary-General,
becoming one of the highest ranking women
in the UN system and the first woman, in the
history of the United Nations, to lead one
of its major voluntarily-funded programmes. Click here
for complete Bio
Andrew
Young (U.S.A.) Chairman,
Good Works International
Ambassador Andrew Young is an ordained minister,
international businessman, human rights activist,
published author, and former public servant.
He was a top aide to Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. and was elected to three terms in the
U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia.
He has been a U.S. Ambassador to the UN and
served two terms as Mayor of Atlanta. Click here
for complete Bio
Muhammad
Yunus (Bangladesh) Founder,
Grameen Bank of Bangladesh
Professor Muhammad Yunus is responsible for
many innovative programs benefiting the rural
poor. He is the founder of the Grameen Bank
of Bangladesh, which provides microcredit
loans to the poor so they can obtain basic
amenities such as electricity. To date, Grameen
Bank has given loans to more than 2.4 million
borrowers - 95% of which have been given to
women. Click
here for complete Bio
Ruth
Cardoso (Brazil) - In Memoriam Chair,
Comunidade Solidaria
Ruth Cardoso was the Chair of the Comunidade
Solidaria, a program to combat poverty and
social exclusion in Brazil. She was also active
in the areas of women's rights, teaches at
a number of different universities and authored
several articles on urban anthropology, social
movements and the Third Sector. Click here
for complete Bio
Graça
Machel (Mozambique)
- Emeritus Chair, Foundation
for Community Development
Graça Machel has been Mozambique's
Minister of Education and was the chairperson
of the National Organization of Children of
Mozambique, an organization that places orphans
in village homes. She has been very involved
in improving the lives of families, women
and children and has been a major force on
behalf of worldwide literacy. In 2001 she
wrote "The Impact of War on Children"
and is considered a foremost authority on
the impact of conflict on children. Click
here for complete Bio
Liang
Dan
(China) - Emeritus Director of Investment and Technology
Promotion at the UN Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) Liang Dan has served since May
2000 as Director, Investment and Technology
Promotion Branch of the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO), Vienna.
Previously, she was Director-General of
the China International Center for Economic
and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) in the
Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and
Trade (MOFTEC). She worked extensively with
UNDP and UNIDO both in China and in China’s
cooperation with developing countries throughout
the UN system. Click here
for complete Bio
