Brundtland has campaigned widely for women’s rights, health, and environmental issues. She became Norway’s first female Prime Minister in 1981 and served for more than 10 years between 1981 and 1996. She gained international recognition as leader of the World Commission on Environment and Development that presented the 1987 "Brundtland Report" on sustainable development, which led to the Rio Summit in 1992. From 1998 to 2003, she served as Director-General of the World Health Organization, where she advanced health on the global political agenda.

The Fae Golden Kass Lectureship was created by gifts of the family and friends of Fae Golden Kass to support an annual lecture by a woman in the medical sciences. More information about the event and the lectureship can be found at http://www.hms.harvard.edu/jcsw/kass.htm.

The event is co-sponsored by: HSPH, HMS/HSDM Joint Committee on the Status of Women; HSPH Interdisciplinary Concentration on Women, Gender, and Health; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Center for Faculty Development; Children’s Hospital Office of Faculty Development; Partners Offices for Women’s Careers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital; HMS Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and the HMS Office for Faculty Affairs.