The Role of WHO: A Leader’s Perspective
Gro Harlem Brundtland (MPH ’65) was the Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1998-2003 and first woman Prime Minister of Norway. In 2010, the UN Secretary General appointed her a member of his “High Level Global Sustainability Panel”. In the 1980s, she served as chair of the World Commission of Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission, and drew international attention to the need for sustainable development. Today, Brundtland travels and lectures extensively as a leading voice on climate change, an advocate for a healthier and better educated world, and a champion of sustainable development, which she defines as “meeting the demands of the present generations while preserving the rights of future generations to meet their own needs.” She is a graduate of Harvard School of Public Health.
