TORONTO, September 26, 2001 -- Canada’s celebrated champion of the environment, Maurice Strong, undersecretary general and special advisor to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, will speak at York University on Friday, September 28 at 3:30 p.m. as part of homecoming celebrations. Strong’s visit is hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES).

The first president of Canada’s International Development Agency (CIDA), Strong has been hailed as a "Custodian of the Planet" and the single most important figure in the international effort to preserve and protect the environment. He was secretary general of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro – the Earth Summit – which has been a major impetus for global environmental regulation. He is chairman of the Earth Council, an international non-governmental organization created in September 1992 to promote and advance the implementation of the Earth Summit agreements, including the Kyoto Protocol. He is also president of The University for Peace, an international institution of higher education created by the UN in December 1980 to promote tolerance and cooperation among peoples.

Strong served as the secretary general of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment from 1970-72, and subsequently became the first executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya, 1973-75. He was then appointed president, chairman and chief executive officer of Canada’s national oil company, Petro-Canada, and has also been president of Power Corporation, and chairman of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Strong is the recipient of a number of awards and honours, including the Order of Canada, the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star, and honorary doctorates from 37 universities, including one from York in 1973. He is a fellow of the Royal Society (U.K.), the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Architectural Society of Canada. He will speak to the York community at 3:30 p.m. in the Senate Chamber, room 940 north, Ross Building, Keele campus, 4700 Keele St.

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For further information, please contact:

Dianne Zecchino
Faculty of Environmental Studies
York University
416-736-5285
diannez@yorku.ca

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca
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