Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai
Title: Presiding Officer
Economic Social and Cultural Council
Company/Organization: The African Union
Title: Assistant Minister, Environment
Company/Organization: Republic of Kenya
Program: African Graduate Fellowship Program (AFGRAD)
Degree: Master’s of Science in Biology
Year Completed: 1966
Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya, in 1940, the daughter of farmers in the highlands of Mount Kenya. The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree, Professor Maathai obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas (1964). Dr. Maathai received an AAI administered scholarship through the African Graduate Fellowship Program (AFGRAD) in 1965 to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where she went on to earn a master’s of science degree in biology. She pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, obtaining a Ph.D. in 1971 from the University of Nairobi, where she also taught veterinary anatomy. She became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in 1976 and 1977 respectively. She was the first woman in the region to attain those positions.
Dr. Maathai served in the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1976-87 and was its chairman from 1981-87. She introduced her tree-planting concept to ordinary citizens in 1976. She went on to develop it into the Green Belt Movement, a broad-based, grassroots organization whose main focus is helping women’s groups plant trees to conserve the environment and improve quality of life. Through the Green Belt Movement, she now has helped women plant more than 30 million trees on their farms, on schools, and on church compounds. In 1986, the Movement established a Pan African Green Belt Network, which has taught more than 40 people from other African countries the Green Belt Movement’s approach to environmental conservation and community building.
In 1992, AAI selected her to receive the AAI Distinguished Alumna Award at its Annual Awards Gala. In 1998, Dr. Maathai joined the campaign of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition. As co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign, she has played a leading role in seeking the cancellation of the overwhelming and unpayable debts of poor countries in Africa. She also has campaigned tirelessly against land grabbing and the theft of public forests.
In December 2002, Dr. Maathai was elected to Kenya’s Parliament and was subsequently appointed by Kenya’s president as Assistant Minister for the Environment. On October 8, 2004, Dr. Maathai was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first African woman to win this honor. Most recently in 2005, Dr. Maathai was elected Presiding Officer of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.