Holistic Solutions to Global Environmental Problems: Integrating Technological Approaches with Political, Social, and Economic Realities

Keynote address by Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway, and former Director-General of the World Health Organization.

Date: Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 6:00pm
Location: Ira Allen Chapel at The University of Vermont

First Woman Prime Minister of Norway to give Aiken Lecture

The former prime minister of Norway and former director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, will deliver the 2008 Aiken Lecture at the University of Vermont on October 15th, 2008.

At age 41, Dr. Brundtland became the first woman prime minister of Norway and the youngest person ever appointed to the post. She led her country briefly in 1981, and then again in 1986-89 and 1990-96.

She achieved worldwide recognition as the chair of the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, today informally known as the Brundtland Commission, that promoted a now famous definition of sustainable development as that which "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Dr Brundtland led the World Health Organization from 1998-2003 and now serves as special envoy on climate change for the United Nations Secretary-General.

UVM's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, under the leadership of dean Domenico Grasso, will host Dr. Brundtland's visit to Vermont this October.