Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan April 8, 1938 - 

Kofi Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana and rose to through the ranks to represent his country as diplomat, before eventually serving as the United Nation's seventh Secretary-General from 1997-2006. Annan's nine year tenure as Secretary-General were highly productive and ushered lasting peace. If he were to receive a nickname the most fitting would be "Peace Broker."

Education was a top priority for Annan. He attended several universities, all over the world and earning a different degree at each institution. Most notable, Annan attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, and the MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

As UN secretary-general, Annan facilitated a peaceful resolution to a conflict involving Iraq that had reached an impasse because of Iraq's initial refusal to comply with weapons inspections. 

His leadership guaranteed the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon both in 2000 and 2006. While secretary-general, Annan was an outspoken critic of the United States invasion of Iraq. He even referred to the aggression and Iraq War in general as illegal, since it failed to follow UN Charter dictates.