Mary Robinson

Former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Chair of The Elders

Honorary Fellow and Inaugural Patron of the ISC

Mary Robinson

“We need science to empower citizens’ active engagement in finding the solutions to the climate emergency, especially from poor and vulnerable communities. There has never been a more important time for an organisation with the global reach of the International Science Council and I am delighted to be its Patron.”

Mary Robinson, 7 June 2019, on the occasion of her appointment as ISC Patron

About Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is Chair of The Elders, a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change and most recently as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate.

A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012.

Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019 and is now Adjunct Professor of Climate Justice. Mary’s memoir, ‘Everybody Matters’ was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice – Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future’ was published in September 2018.

Skip to content