1940-2023
Dr. Mohamed T. El-Ashry was a Senior Fellow with the UN Foundation. Mohamed served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which he helped to establish, from 1994 to 2003. He also served as Chairman of the GEF during its Pilot Phase (1991-1994). Prior to joining the GEF, he served as Chief Environmental Adviser to the President and Director of the Environment Department at the World Bank, as Senior Vice President of the World Resources Institute, and as Director of Environmental Quality with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
He held teaching and research positions at Cairo University, Pan-American-U.A.R. Oil Company, Wilkes University, and the Environmental Defense Fund. He also served as Senior Environmental Adviser to UNDP, as Special Adviser to the Secretary General of the 1992 UN Earth Summit, and as a member of a number of international commissions and task forces including the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence, the International Commission on Climate Change and Development, and the World Water Commission.
He received his B.S. degree with honors in 1959 from the University of Cairo and M.S. (1963) and Ph.D. (1966) degrees in geology from the University of Illinois. He was the editor and co-author of three books and published or presented more than 250 papers.
Mohamed was a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He served as a member of the Third World and African Academies of Sciences and wass listed in American Men and Women of Science and Men of Achievement. He received several international honors and awards including the Champions of the Earth and the Haub Prize for International Environmental Diplomacy. He served on the Boards of many not-for-profit organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, Resources for the Future, and as Chairman of the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).
