Monday, September 26, 2011

Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai – modest in excellence


"Well, I would certainly like people to remember me as a person who was very concerned about the environment, very concerned with the species that we co habit in this planet with and one person who really felt that humans ought to have greater respect for other species than we do at the moment."- Prof. Wangari Maathai in 2009.



Professor Wangari Maathai has won many firsts. In 1971, she became the first woman to obtain a PhD (from the University of Nairobi) in East and Central Africa. She was also the first feminine professor in the region in 1976 when she became the first (again) lady chair of the Veterinary Anatomy department at the University of Nairobi. In 2004, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, again becoming the first woman from Sub-Saharan Africa to receive this coveted prize.
But her firsts have not come easy. Born in the dark days of colonial Kenya, Wangari dared take a path that many of her contemporaries wouldn’t. She took the road less travelled and excelled paving a highway through which many other people have travelled to success. She has faced many challenges but remained unbowed even in the hands of rogue police men and their political godfathers, greedy land-grabbers and shameless indigenous tree loggers in Kenya and beyond. She remains a fervent fighter for democracy, human rights, equity and peaceful coexistence for all Kenyans and indeed all humankind through environmental conservation.
Professor Maathai has won many awards including the Disney Conservation Award (2006), the Paul Harris Fellow (2005), the Sophie Prize (2004), the Petra Kelly Prize for Environment (2004), the Conservation Scientist Award (2004), J. Sterling Morton Award (2004), WANGO Environment Award (2003), Outstanding Vision and Commitment Award (2002), Excellence Award from the Kenyan Community Abroad (2001), Golden Ark Award (1994), Juliet Hollister Award (2001), Jane Adams Leadership Award (1993), Edinburgh Medal (1993), UN's Africa Prize for Leadership (1991), Goldman Environmental prize (1991), the Woman of the World (1989), Windstar Award for the Environment (1988), Better World Society Award (1986), Right Livelihood Award (1984) and the Woman of the Year Award (1983).
Professor Maathai was also listed 6th in the Environment Agency (UK) peer review of the world’s Top 100 Eco-Heroes. She was also included in UNEP's Global 500 Hall of Fame and named one of the 100 heroines of the world. She has also received honorary doctoral degrees from several institutions around the world: Williams College (1990), Hobart & William Smith Colleges (1994), University of Norway (1997), Yale University (2004), Willamette College (2005), University of California at Irvine (2006), and Morehouse University (2006).

"Iam working to make sure that we dont only protect the environment but also improve governance" Prof Wangari Maathai

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