Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson is Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice in Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders.  She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change leading up to the Paris Agreement and in 2016 as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Her Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, established in 2010, came to a planned end in April 2019.

A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019. 

Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the International Science Council and Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. Recently she became joint Honorary President of the Africa Europe Foundation. Mary’s memoir, ‘Everybody Matters’ was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice - Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future’ was published in September 2018. She is also co-host of a podcast on the climate crisis, called ‘Mothers of Invention’.

 

THE AURORA PRIZE SELECTION COMMITTEE

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Elie Wiesel (1928 – 2016)

First Co-Chair

President of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; Nobel Laureate

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Lord Ara Darzi

Chair

Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London

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George Clooney

Honorary Co-Chair

Co-founder, The Sentry; Humanitarian, performer and film maker

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Chelsea Clinton

Vice Chair, Clinton Foundation; Vice Chair, Clinton Health Access Initiative

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Leymah Gbowee

Member

Liberian peace activist and women’s rights advocate; Nobel Laureate

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Dele Olojede

Member

Journalist, Writer, Pulitzer Prize Winner

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Paul Polman

Member

Business leader, climate and equalities campaigner

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John Prendergast

Member

Human Rights Activist and Co-founder, The Sentry

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Dame Louise Richardson

Member

President, Carnegie Corporation of New York

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Mary Robinson

Member

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Former President of Ireland

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Hamdi Ulukaya

Member

Founder, Tent Partnership for Refugees; Founder and CEO, Chobani

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Ernesto Zedillo

Member

Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization; Former President of Mexico

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Vartan Gregorian (1934 - 2021)

Member

Co-founder, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative; President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York

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Benjamin Ferencz (1920–2023)

Honorary Co-Chair

Lawyer, Human Rights Activist

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Elie Wiesel (1928 – 2016)

First Co-Chair

President of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; Nobel Laureate

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Lord Ara Darzi

Chair

Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London