Commissioners
Photo ©: Burson-Marsteller
Photo ©: Burson-Marsteller
Kofi Annan
Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation
United Nations Secretary-General (1997-2006)
Kofi A. Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving two terms from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006 and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff. In 2001 Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with the citation praising his leadership for “bringing new life to the organisation”. Since leaving the United Nations, Kofi Annan has continued to press for better policies to meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly in Africa. He has also continued to use his experience to mediate and resolve conflict. In Kenya in early 2008, Mr. Annan led the African Union’s Panel of Eminent African Personalities to help find a peaceful resolution to the post-election violence. Mr Annan serves as the Chairman of the Africa Progress Panel (APP) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He is also a Board member, Patron and Fellow of a number of organisations. Mr. Annan currently serves as the Chancellor of the University of Ghana, a Global Fellow at Columbia University in the United States, and Li Ka Shing Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Since his appointment as Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for Syria, Mr. Annan has recused himself as a member of The Elders.
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León
Frederick Iseman '74 Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
Former President of Mexico
Ernesto Zedillo is the Frederick Iseman ’74 Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Professor of International Economics and Politics, and Adjunct Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He was President of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. Professor Zedillo is Chairperson of the Global Development Network, based in New Delhi, and the Oversight Board of the Natural Resource Charter. He is a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum; G30; Global Development Advisory Panel of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and the Board of Directors of the Institute for International Economics. Professor Zedillo has served on numerous international commissions, most recently as Chair of the High Level Commission on Modernization of World Bank Group Governance; Chair of the Commission on the Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond; Co-Chair of the Partnership of the Americas Commission; and a member of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament as well as the Global Commission on Drug Policy. He currently serves as Chair of the Oversight Committee of the Natural Resource Charter.
Martti Ahtisaari
Former President of the Republic of Finland
Martti Ahtisaari was elected President of the Republic of Finland in February 1994. He held office from March 1994 to February 2000. Upon leaving office, Mr Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative, where he is the Chairperson of the Board. Between 2000 and 2008 Mr Ahtisaari has taken various tasks related to peace mediation and conflict resolution. In 2005 he facilitated the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. Between November 2005 and February 2008 Mr Ahtisaari acted as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo. He has received numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2008. Among other responsibilities, Mr Ahtisaari currently acts as Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and Chairperson of the Independent Commission on Turkey examining the challenges and opportunities presented by Turkey's possible membership in the European Union.
Madeleine K. Albright
Former Secretary of State of the United States of America
Madeleine K. Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. Dr. Albright was the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. In 1997, she was named the first female Secretary of State and became, at that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was a member of the President’s Cabinet. She is a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Dr. Albright chairs both the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the Pew Global Attitudes Project. She is also the president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation and a member of an advisory body, the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board In 2012, she was chosen by President Obama to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of her contributions to international peace and democracy.
Louise Arbour
President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Crisis Group
Louise Arbour has served as President & CEO of the International Crisis Group since July 2009. Previously she acted as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2004 to 2008. Professor Arbour, a Canadian national, began her academic career in 1974. In 1977, she was nominated Associate Professor and Associate Dean at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, Canada. In December of 1987, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario (High Court of Justice) and in 1990 to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. In 1995, Professor Arbour was appointed Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario. In 1996, she was appointed by the Security Council of the United Nations as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. In 1999, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Arbour graduated from College Regina Assumpta, Montreal in 1967 and completed an LL.L (with distinction) from the Faculty of Law, University of Montreal in 1970. She has received honorary doctorates from some thirty universities and numerous medals and awards, and is a member of many distinguished professional societies and organizations.
Vidar Helgesen
Secretary-General of International IDEA
In January 2006 Vidar Helgesen was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). Mr Helgesen, a Norwegian national, was appointed Norway's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in October 2001 and remained in this position until October 2005. During this period, Mr Helgesen led Norway's efforts in peace talks between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers. Born in 1968, Mr Helgesen studied and trained as a lawyer. Politically active from his youth, he has long been involved in Norway's Conservative Party. From 1998 to 2001, Mr Helgesen acted as Special Adviser to the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva. In 2007 Mr Helgesen was appointed by the UN Secretary General as member of the UN Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group.
Rima Khalaf Hunaidi
Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Rima Khalaf held several high-ranking ministerial positions in Jordan, including Minister of Industry and Trade (1993-1995), Minister of Planning (1995-1998), and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning (1999-2000). Before being appointed Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Dr Khalaf held the position of Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The pioneering projects that she launched to promote education, knowledge acquisition and human development in Arab States, received international honours including the Prince Claus Award and the King Hussein Leadership Prize. Dr Khalaf is a regular contributor to regional and international policy forums concerned with the state of development in the Arab world, and has participated in a number of international commissions, including the High-Level Commission for the Modernization of the World Bank Group Governance (2008-2009).
Festus Mogae
Former President of Botswana
Festus Mogae became the third President of the Republic of Botswana in March 1998. He has also been involved in community oriented organizations such as Kalahari Conservation Society, President of Botswana Society, Lions Club of Palapye, President of the Botswana Society for the Deaf, as well as Patron of the Junior Achievement Botswana. He is also Chairperson of the National AIDS Council. Dr Mogae has a long history within public administration, starting as Planning Officer in 1968. He was appointed Minister of Finance and Development Planning in 1989 and became Vice President in 1992. He was Chairperson of SADC Council of Ministers from 1992 until 1996. By virtue of his position as Vice President, Dr Mogae was also Leader of the House for Botswana National Assembly. He has been an active member of the Botswana Democratic Party and served in various committees of the party. He was also Member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Member of the Parliamentarians for Global Action and the Global Coalition for Africa. Dr Mogae was Governor for Botswana for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Member of the Joint Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on the transfer of real resources to developing countries.
Amartya Sen
Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University
Professor Amartya Sen has served as President of the Econometric Society, the Indian Economic Association, the American Economic Association and the International Economic Association, and was, until recently, the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was formerly Honorary President of OXFAM and now its Honorary Advisor. Born in Santiniketan, India, Dr Sen was also Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University and is a Distinguished Fellow of All Souls. Among the awards he has received are the “Bharat Ratna” (the highest honour awarded by the President of India); the Senator Giovanni Agnelli International Prize in Ethics; the Edinburgh Medal; the Brazilian Ordem do Merito Cientifico; the Eisenhower Medal; the George C. Marshall Award; and the Nobel Prize in Economics (1998). His books have been translated into more than thirty languages and include topics that range over a number of fields in economics, philosophy and decision theory.
Javier Solana
Former Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union
Mr Solana was appointed for a second five-year mandate as Secretary-General of the Council of the EU and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in July 2004, where he played a crucial role in foreign policy matters through the formulation, preparation and implementation of European policy decisions. Mr Solana held a number of cabinet posts in the four governments headed by Spanish Socialist leader Felipe González between 1982 and 1996. He was Minister of Culture from December 1982 until July 1988, acting also as government spokesman during the latter half of that period. Mr Solana also served as Minister for Education and Science from July 1988 to July 1992, when he became Minister of Foreign Affairs. He left that post in December 1995 to take office as Secretary-General to NATO. He served as Secretary-General of the Western European Union (WEU) since November 1999 and he is also a member of the Spanish Chapter of the Club of Rome.
Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Former President of the Republic of Latvia
Dr Vike-Freiberga is a professor and interdisciplinary scholar, and she has published eleven books and numerous articles, essays and book chapters in addition to her extensive speaking engagements. As President of the Republic of Latvia 1999-2007, she was instrumental in achieving membership in the European Union and NATO for her country. She is active in international politics, was named Special Envoy to the Secretary General on United Nations reform and was official candidate for UN Secretary General in 2006. She remains active in the international arena and continues to speak up in defense of liberty, equality and social justice, and for the need of Europe to acknowledge the whole of its history. In December 2007 she was named Vice-Chair of the Reflection group on the long term future of the European Union. She is also known for her work in psycholinguistics, semiotics and analysis of the oral literature of her native country. She is a member of the Club of Madrid, the Council of Women World Leaders, and the European Council on Foreign Relations. She has been awarded several Orders of Merit, Honorary Doctorates, medals, prizes and honours, including the 2005 Hannah Arendt Prize and the 2009 Hayek Medal for promotion of freedom.
N. Hassan Wirajuda
Former Foreign Minister and Member of the Council of Presidential Advisors of the Republic of Indonesia
N. Hassan Wirajuda was Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009. Currently, he is member of the Council of Presidential Advisors of the Republic of Indonesia and Patron to the Institute of Peace and Democracy of the Bali Democracy Forum. A lawyer by training and a diplomat by choice, Dr Wirajuda has held several important posts including Director-General of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Egypt, and Director of International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Dr Wirajuda initiated the establishment of the Indonesian Commission of Human Rights and facilitated the peace talks between the Moro Liberation Front and the Government of the Philippines that led to the signing of the Final Peace Agreement in September 1996. He was also asked to conduct the dialogue between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. He was the proponent of the ASEAN Political and Security Community and the establishment of an ASEAN human rights body.
