Nancy Goodman Brinker
Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's
leading breast cancer grass roots organization. Brinker established the
organization in memory of her sister, who passed away from breast cancer in
1980. Through innovative events like Race for the Cure, the organization has
given and invested over $1.3 billion for research, health services and education
services since its founding in 1982 and developed a worldwide grassroots network
of breast cancer survivors and activists who are working together to save lives,
empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find cures.
Brinker has received several awards for her work, and has also served in
government as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary (2001 – 2003), Chief of Protocol of the
U.S. (2007 – 2009), and Chair of the President's Cancer Panel (1990). In May,
Nancy Goodman Brinker was named the first-ever World Health Organization's
Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control.
Pedro Jos� Greer, Jr.
Dr. Pedro Jose Greer is a physician and the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs
at the Florida International University School of Medicine, where he also serves
as Chair of the Department of Humanities, Health and Society. Dr. Greer is the
founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to over
10,000 homeless patients a year in the city of Miami. He is also the founder and
medical director of the St. John Bosco Clinic which provides basic primary
medical care to disadvantaged children and adults in the Little Havana
community. He has been recognized by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Sr., and Carter
for his work with Miami's poor . He is also the recipient of three Papal Medals
as well as the prestigious MacArthur "genius grant". He currently has a joint
private practice with his father, Pedro Greer, Sr.
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is an internationally-recognized theoretical physicist who has a
severe physical disability due to motor neuron disease. He is the Lucasian
Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post previously held by
Isaac Newton in 1669. In addition to his pioneering academic research in
mathematics and physics, Hawking has penned three popular science books,
including the bestselling A Brief History of Time. Hawking, a British citizen,
believes that non-academics should be able to access his work just as physicists
are, and has also published a children's science book with his daughter. His
persistence and dedication has unlocked new pathways of discovery and inspired
everyday citizens.
Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp, who passed away in May 2009, served as a U.S. Congressman (1971 –
1989), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1989 – 1993), and Republican
Nominee for Vice President (1996). Prior to entering public service, Kemp was a
professional football player (1957 – 1969) and led the Buffalo Bills to American
Football League championships in 1964 and 1965. In Congress and as a Cabinet
Secretary, Kemp was a self-described "bleeding heart conservative" who worked to
encourage development in underserved urban communities. In the years leading up
to his death, Kemp continued seeking new solutions, raising public attention
about the challenge of poverty, and working across party lines to improve the
lives of Americans and others around the world.
Sen. Edward
Kennedy
Senator Edward M. Kennedy has served in the United States Senate for forty-six
years, and has been one of the greatest lawmakers – and leaders – of our time.
From reforming our public schools to strengthening civil rights laws and
supporting working Americans, Senator Kennedy has dedicated his career to
fighting for equal opportunity, fairness and justice for all Americans. He has
worked tirelessly to ensure that every American has access to quality and
affordable health care, and has succeeded in doing so for countless children,
seniors, and Americans with disabilities. He has called health care reform the
"cause of his life," and has championed nearly every health care bill enacted by
Congress over the course of the last five decades. Known as the "Lion of the
Senate," Senator Kennedy is widely respected on both sides of the aisle for his
commitment to progress and his ability to legislate.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King was an acclaimed professional tennis player in the 1960s and
1970s, and has helped champion gender equality issues not only in sports, but in
all areas of public life. King beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes"
tennis match, then the most viewed tennis match in history. King became one of
the first openly lesbian major sports figures in America when she came out in
1981. Following her professional tennis career, King became the first woman
commissioner in professional sports when she co-founded and led the World Team
Tennis (WTT) League. The U.S. Tennis Association named the National Tennis
Center, where the US Open is played, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
in 2006.
Rev. Joseph Lowery
Reverend Lowery has been a leader in the U.S. civil rights movement since the
early 1950s. It was in Mobile, Alabama, at this time –that he headed the Alabama
Civic Affairs Association; the organization which led the Movement to
desegregate buses and public accommodations. Rev. Lowery later co-founded the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a leading civil rights organization,
with Dr. Martin Luther King, and was chosen by Dr. King to Chair the Delegation
delivering the demands of the Selma-to-Montgomery March to Alabama Governor
George Wallace.. Rev. Lowery is a minister in the United Methodist Church, and
has continued to highlight important civil rights issues in the U.S. and
worldwide, including apartheid in South Africa, since the 1960s.
Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird
Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, the last living Plains Indian war chief, is the author
of seminal works in Native American history and culture. He is the last person
alive to have received direct oral testimony from a participant in the Battle of
the Little Bighorn: his grandfather was a scout for General George Armstrong
Custer. A veteran of World War II, Medicine Crow accomplished during the war all
of the four tasks required to become a "war chief," including stealing fifty
Nazi SS horses from a German camp. Medicine Crow was the first member of his
tribe to attend college, receiving his master's degree in anthropology in 1939,
and continues to lecture at universities and notable institutions like the
United Nations. His contributions to the preservation of the culture and history
of the First Americans are matched only by his importance as a role model to
young Native Americans across the country.
Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in
the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
in 1977. Milk encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens
to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they could
change society and achieve social equality. Milk, alongside San Francisco Mayor
George Moscone, was shot and killed in 1978 by Dan White, a former city
supervisor. Milk is revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT
civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal
rights.
Sandra Day O'Connor
Justice O'Connor was the first woman ever to sit on the United States Supreme
Court. Nominated by President Reagan in 1981, she served until her retirement in
2006. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, O'Connor served as a state trial and
appellate judge in Arizona. She was also as a member of the Arizona state
senate, where she became the first woman in the United States ever to lead a
state senate as Senate Majority Leader. At a time when women rarely entered the
legal profession, O'Connor graduated Stanford Law School third in her class,
where she served on the Stanford Law Review and was elected to the Order of the
Coif. Since retiring from the Supreme Court in 2006, O'Connor has served as
Chancellor of the College of William and Mary, on the Board of Trustees of the
National Constitution Center, and participated in the Iraq Study Group in 2006,
as well as giving numerous lectures on public service. She has received numerous
awards for her outstanding achievements and public service.
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier is a groundbreaking actor, becoming the top black movie star in
the 1950s and 1960s. Poitier is the first African American to be nominated and
win a Best Actor Academy Award, receive an award at a top international film
festival (Venice Film Festival), and be the top grossing movie star in the
United States. Poitier insisted that the film crew on The Lost Man be at least
50 percent African American, and starred in the first mainstream movies
portraying "acceptable" interracial marriages and interracial kissing. Poitier
began his acting career without any training or experience by auditioning at the
American Negro Theatre.
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an accomplished and versatile actress, singer, and dancer, who
has won Two Tony Awards and received seven more nominations while breaking
barriers and inspiring a generation of women to follow in her footsteps. In
2002, she became the first Hispanic recipient of the coveted Kennedy Center
Honor. Propelled to stardom by her electric performance as Anita in the original
Broadway premiere of West Side Story, Rivera went on to star in additional
landmark musicals such as Chicago, Bye Bye Birdie, and Jerry's Girls. She
recently starred in The Dancer's Life, an autobiographical musical about her
celebrated life in the theatre.
Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland (1990 – 1997) and a
former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 – 2002), a post
that required her to end her presidency four months early. Robinson served as a
prominent member of the Irish Senate prior to her election as President. She
continues to bring attention to international issues as Honorary President of
Oxfam International, and Chairs the Board of Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunizations (GAVI Alliance). Since 2002 she has been President of Realizing
Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, based in New York, which is an
organization she founded to make human rights the compass which charts a course
for globalization that is fair, just and benefits all.
Janet Davison Rowley
Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., is the Blum Riese Distinguished Service Professor of
Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at The University
of Chicago. She is an American human geneticist and the first scientist to
identify a chromosomal translocation as the cause of leukemia and other cancers.
Rowley is internationally renowned for her studies of chromosome abnormalities
in human leukemia and lymphoma, which have led to dramatically improved survival
rates for previously incurable cancers and the development of targeted
therapies. In 1999 President Clinton awarded her the National Medal of
Science--the nation's highest scientific honor.
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu is an Anglican Archbishop emeritus who was a leading anti-apartheid
activist in South Africa. Widely regarded as "South Africa's moral conscience,"
he served as the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC)
from 1978 – 1985, where he led a formidable crusade in support of justice and
racial reconciliation in South Africa. He received a Nobel Peace Prize for his
work through SACC in 1984. Tutu was elected Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, and
the Chair of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995. He
retired as Archbishop in 1996 and is currently Chair of the Elders.
Muhammad Yunus
Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, and has pioneered
the use of "micro-loans" to provide credit to poor individuals without
collateral. Dr. Yunus, an economist by training, founded the Grameen Bank in
1983 in his native Bangladesh to provide small, low-interest loans to the poor
to help better their livelihood and communities. Despite its low interest rates
and lending to poor individuals, Grameen Bank is sustainable and 98% percent of
its loans are repaid – higher than other banking systems. It has spread its
successful model throughout the world. Dr. Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize
in 2006 for his work.
