Maurice Strong, a senior advisor to the secretary-general of the United Nations and former senior advisor to the president of the World Bank, is one of the world’s most influential political and environmental activists.
Strong served on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a UN-affiliated organization established by Ted Turner’s historic $1-billion donation. He is also a director of the World Economic Forum Foundation, chair of the Earth Council, former chair of the Stockholm Environment Institute and former chair of the World Resources Institute.
Born in Oak Lake, Man., Strong has amassed a fortune in a career spanning over five decades at some of Canada’s most prestigious companies. He has run several companies in the energy and resources sector including the Power Corporation of Canada, Ontario Hydro and Petro-Canada. He is currently the chair of Technology Development, Inc., which funds research in the groundbreaking field of applying nanotechnology towards creating affordable and eco-friendly energy sources.
In 1970, he led the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Geneva, after which he became the executive director of the UN’s environmental program. Strong also co ordinated the UN’s emergency relief efforts in Africa in the mid-80s and was in charge of the historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. He recently took part in the reorganization of the UN’s University for Peace, located in Costa Rica, and continues to help the university redefine its mission for the 21st century.
Other awards and honours include appointment as a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1999 and being chosen to receive the Distinguished Canadian Leadership Award in 2003.
