| 1 | Name: | Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland | |
| Institution: | World Health Organization | ||
| Year Elected: | 2002 | ||
| Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | ||
| Subdivision: | 503. Administrators, Bankers and Opinion Leaders from the Public or Private Sectors | ||
| Residency: | International | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1939 | ||
Gro Harlem Brundtland is a pioneering physician and international civil servant who has used her combination of scientific training, political skill and moral leadership to draw the world's attention to the challenges of sustainability and global health. She was appointed Prime Minister of Norway for the first time in 1981, at the age of 41, becoming the first woman and then the youngest person to hold that office. Dr. Brundtland served as Head of Government for more than 10 years. As chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development, she was responsible for the report "Our Common Future" in April 1987. This report introduced the influential concept of sustainability as humanity's capacity to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This report led to the first Earth Summit, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and to many subsequent activities to promote environmental protection with economic development. As Director-General of the World Health Organization since July 1998 (again, the first woman to hold that office), Dr. Brundtland has mobilized resources and provided moral and technical leadership to improve people's health everywhere. In 2007 she was chosen by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a special envoy to the U.N. in addressing climate change. | |||