2009 Event Speakers

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  Hon. Timothy E. Wirth

  President, United Nations Foundation

  Timothy Wirth is the President of the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund. Both organizations were founded in 1998 through a major financial commitment from Ted Turner to support and strengthen the work of the United Nations.

  Wirth began his political career as a White House Fellow under President Lyndon Johnson and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education in the Nixon Administration. In 1970, Wirth returned to his home state and ran successfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974. He represented Denver suburbs in Congress from 1975-1987. As a first term Congressman, Wirth organized the “Freshman Revolt” in 1975, and with colleagues Norman Mineta, Leon Panetta and Dick Gephardt, he was part of “The Gang of Four” challenging the budget process and developing a high technology and alternative budget in 1982. As Chair of the Communications Subcommittee, he was the lead legislator in restructuring the cable television and telephone industries. Wirth also authored the Indian Peaks Wilderness Act of 1978.

  Wirth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 where he focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate change and population stabilization. In 1988, he organized the historic Hansen hearings on climate change. With his close friend, the late Senator John Heinz (R-PA), he authored “Project 88”, outlining the groundbreaking “Cap and Trade” idea which became law in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. He authored the far-reaching Colorado Wilderness Bill which became law in 1993, and with Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) he authored major legislation focused on population stabilization. Wirth also organized the Senate Task Force on the Expansion of Major League Baseball, which became a major factor in the awarding of a new expansion franchise to Denver. He chose not to run for re-election in 1992, citing in a front page cover story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine (August 9, 1992), frustration with the ever increasing role of money in politics to the exclusion of focus on public policy.

  As President of the UN Foundation (UNF) since its inception in early 1998, Wirth has organized and led the formulation of the Foundation’s mission and program priorities, which include the environment, women and population, children’s health, and peace, security and human rights.

  Prior to entering politics, Wirth was in private business in Colorado. The son of teachers, he was a scholarship student and graduate of Harvard College, served as a Harvard “Baby Dean” after graduation, and received a Ph.D. from Stanford University. The recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, he also served as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. He was recently honored as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme.

  Video from the summit: Technology Coordination and Deployment for Energy Security & Sustainability

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