Kofi Annan : biography

Annan served as Under-Secretary-General from March 1994 to October 1995. He was appointed a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia, serving for five months before returning to his duties as Under-Secretary-General in April 1996.

Honours and awards

Honours

2000: Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana

2000: Grand Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland

2001: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Star of Romania

2005: Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty (Portugal)

2006: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion

2007: Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria

2007: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) from Queen Elizabeth II (UK)

2008: Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Awards

2000: Kora All Africa Music Awards in the category of Lifetime Achievement

2001: Nobel Foundation, The Nobel Peace Prize, jointly presented to Kofi Annan and the United Nations

2002: winner of the "Profiles in Courage Award", given by the JFK Memorial Museum

2002: The American Whig-Cliosophic Society James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service.http://archives-trim.un.org/webdrawer/rec/552938/view/Item-in-KAA%20Schoolsuniversities%202002%20-%20oct.%20-%20dec..PDF

2003: Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

2003: Freedom Prize of the Max Schmidheiny Foundation at the University of St. Gallen

2006: International World Order of Culture, Science and Education, Award of the European Academy of Informatization, Belgium

2006: Inter Press Service, for Annan’s lasting contributions to peace, security, and development

2006: Olof Palme Prize

2007: Wooden Crossbow, special award from the Swiss World Economic Forum

2007: People in Europe Award of Verlagsgruppe Passau

2007: MacArthur Foundation, MacArthur Award for International Justice

2007: North-South Prize of the Council of Europe

2008: Peace of Westphalia Prize

2008: Harvard University Honors Prize

2008: Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize

2008: Peace of Westphalia Prize – Münster (Westfalen)

2008: Open Society Award – CEU Business School Budapest

2011: Gothenburg Award

2012: Confucius Peace Prize

Honorary degrees

• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (Kumasi), Honorary Doctor of Science, 24 August 1998
• United Nations Mandated University for Peace, Honorary President, 1999
• Lund University, Honorary Doctor of Law, 1999
• National University of Ireland, Doctor of Law, 22 January 1999
• Technische Universität Dresden, doctor honoris causa, 27 April 1999
• Howard University, honorary doctorate of humane letters, 8 May 1999
• Comenius University in Bratislava, doctor honoris causa, 15 June 1999
• University of Notre Dame, Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, 21 May 2000
• Seton Hall University, John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Honorary Doctorate, February 2001
• Brown University, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, 28 May 2001
• Liberty Medal International Selection Commission, Liberty Medal, 4 July 2001
• Free University of Berlin, doctor honoris causa, 13 July 2001
• Tilburg University, Honorary Doctorate, 2002
• University of Alcalá, Doctor Honoris Causa, 9 April 2002
• Northwestern University, Doctor of Laws, 21 June 2002
• University of Pittsburgh, honorary Doctor of Public and International Affairs degree 21 October 2003
• Ghent University (Belgium), doctor honoris causa 21 March 2003
• Carleton University, Legum Doctor, honoris causa, 9 March 2004
• University of Ottawa, Doctor of the University Degree, 9 March 2004
• University of Pennsylvania, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, 16 May 2005
• Universidade Nova de Lisboa, doctor honoris causa, 12 October 2005
• The George Washington University, Doctor of Public Service, 5 May 2006
• University of Tokyo, Honorary Doctorate, 18 May 2006
• Georgetown University, Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, 30 October 2006
• University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Max Schmidheiny Foundation Freedom Prize (originally awarded 2003, but postponed due to Annan’s illness), 18 November 2006
• Princeton University, Crystal Tiger Award, 28 November 2006
• King’s College London, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, 28 May 2008
• University of Neuchâtel, Honorary Doctorate, 1 November 2008
• Glasgow Caledonian University, Doctor of Laws, 18 November 2011