Recipient of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, Republic of Kenya
Member of Parliament, Tetu Constituency, Nyeri District, Republic of Kenya
Founder, the Green Belt Movement

Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya, East Africa in 1940. The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Prof. Maathai obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Biology from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas, USA (1964), a Master of Science (M.S.) in Biological Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, USA (1966), and pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi before obtaining her Ph.D. in Anatomy in 1971 from the University of Nairobi. In 1976, she became Chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, and, a year later, Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, both at the University of Nairobi—the first woman in the region to attain those positions.

Prof. Maathai was active in the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK) from 1976 to 1987 and was its chairperson from 1981 to 1987. It was in 1976, while serving in the NCWK, that she introduced the idea of tree plantings by community members, especially women as a way to improve the quality of their lives. She continued to develop the idea into a broad-based, grassroots organization called the Green Belt Movement (GBM), launched in 1977. Through GBM, Wangari Maathai has helped women plant more than 30 million trees on their farms and in school and church compounds across Kenya.

In 1986, GBM established a Pan-African Green Belt Network. Over the years GBM has exposed a number of people from African countries to its community empowerment and conservation approach. As a result of GBM sharing its experiences and its belief in grassroots participatory methods to solve local challenges, a number of individuals have established GBM-like tree-planting initiatives in their own countries, or have used some of GBM’s methods to improve their programs. To date, initiatives have been successfully launched in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, among others.

In September 1998, Prof. Maathai launched a campaign formed out of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition. She played a leading global role as co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign, which advocates canceling the backlog of non-repayable debts of poor African countries. Recently, her campaign against “land grabbing” (illegal appropriation of public lands by unscrupulous developers) and the rapacious “re-allocation” of forest land has received much attention in Kenya and the African continent.

In December 2002, Prof. Maathai was elected to Kenya’s parliament with an overwhelming 98 percent of the vote. She now represents the Tetu constituency, Nyeri district, in central Kenya (her home region). Subsequently, in January 2003, President Mwai Kibaki appointed her Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in Kenya’s ninth parliament, a position she currently holds.

Wangari Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She has addressed the United Nations on several occasions and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly for the five-year review of the 1992 Earth Summit. She served on the Commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future.

Over the years, she and the Green Belt Movement have received numerous awards, most notably the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Others awards and honors include the Sophie Prize (2004), the Petra Kelly Prize for Environment (2004), the Conservation Scientist Award from Columbia University (2004), the J. Sterling Morton Award (2004), the WANGO Environment Award (2003), the Outstanding Vision and Commitment Award (2002), the Excellence Award from the Kenya Community Abroad (2001), the Golden Ark Award (1994), the Juliet Hollister Award (2001), the Jane Adams Leadership Award (1993), the Edinburgh Medal (1993), the UN’s Africa Prize for Leadership (1991), the Goldman Environmental Prize (1991), the Giraffe Hero Award for sticking her neck out (1990), the Windstar Award for the Environment (1988), the Better World Society Award (1986), the Right Livelihood Award (1984) and the Woman of the Year Award (1983). Prof. Maathai was also listed in the UN Environment Program’s Global 500 Hall of Fame and in June 1997 she was named by the Earth Times as one of 100 people in the world that have made a difference in the environmental arena.

Prof. Maathai has also received honorary doctoral degrees from several institutions around the world: Williams College, USA (1990), Hobart & William Smith Colleges, USA (1994), the University of Norway (1997) and most recently, Yale University, USA (2004).

The Green Belt Movement and Prof. Maathai are featured in several publications including: The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach (Wangari Maathai, 2002), Speak Truth to Power (Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, 2000), Women Pioneers for the Environment (Mary Joy Breton, 1998), Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé, 2002), Una Sola Terra: Donna I Medi Ambient Despres de Rio (Brice Lalonde et al, 1998) and Land Ist Leben (Bedrohte Volker, 1993).

Prof. Maathai serves on the boards of several distinguished organizations, including the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), World Learning for International Development, Green Cross International, Environment Liaison Centre International, and the National Council of Women of Kenya.

Wangari Maathai – Bio Facts

Born April 1, 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya - Nationality: Kenyan - Three children

Education
PhD, Anatomy, University of Nairobi (1971)
MS, Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh  (1966)
BS, Biology, Mount St. Scholastica College, USA (1964)

Personal Achievements
Assistant Minister, Environment, Natural Resources & Wildlife, Republic of Kenya (2003-Present)
Member of Parliament, Tetu Constituency, Republic of Kenya (2002-Present)
Founder and Coordinator, The Green Belt Movement (1977-2002)
Founding member, GROOTS International (1985)
Director, Kenya Red Cross (1973-1980)

Academic Appointments
Dorothy McCluskey Visiting Fellow for Conservation, Yale University, USA (2002)
Montgomery Fellow, Dartmouth College, USA (2001)
Endowed Chair in Gender & Women’s Studies named “Fuller-Maathai”, Connecticut College (2000)
Chair, Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Nairobi (1977)
Assoc. Professor, Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Nairobi (1976)

Professional Affiliations
Member, United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament, USA
Member, UN Commission on Global Governance, USA
Member, Advisory Board, Democracy Coalition Project, USA
Member, Earth Charter Commission, USA
Selection Committee, Sasakawa Environmental Prize, UNEP, KENYA
Board Member, Women and Environment Development Organization (WEDO), USA
Board Member, World Learning for International Development, USA
Board Member, Green Cross International
Board Member, Environment Liaison Center International, KENYA
Board Member, the WorldWIDE Network of Women in Environmental Work, USA
Board Member, National Council of Women of Kenya, KENYA

Honorary Degrees
Doctor of Law, Yale University (2004)
Doctor of Agriculture, University of Norway (1997)
Doctor of Science, Hobart & William Smith Colleges (1994)
Doctor of Law, William's college, MA USA (1990)

Awards
2004, Nobel Peace Prize
2004, Sophie Prize
2004, Petra Kelly Environment Prize
2004, J. Sterling Morton Award
2004, Conservation Scientist Award
2003, Elder of the Burning Spear, Republic of Kenya
2003, WANGO Environment Award
2002, Outstanding Vision and Commitment Award, Bridges to Community
2001, Excellence Award, Kenyan Community Abroad
2001, The Juliet Hollister Award
1997, One of 100 in the world who’ve made a difference in environment, Earth Times
1995, International Women’s Hall of Fame
1994, The Golden Ark Award
1993, The Jane Adams Leadership Award
1993, The Edinburgh Medal
1991, UN's Africa Prize for Leadership
1991, Global 500 Hall of Fame, United Nations Environment Program
1991, The Goldman Environmental prize
1990, The Offeramus Medal
1989, The Woman of the World
1988, The Windstar Award for the Environment
1986, Better World Society Award
1984, Right Livelihood Award
1983, Woman of the year award