Photo courtesy of the Mary Robinson Foundation — Climate JusticeOn June 21, the University of Alberta is holding a special ceremony to confer an honorary degree on Mary Robinson, followed by a conversation hosted by the Honourable Dr. James Edwards. To get you up to speed before the event, here are eight things you probably didn’t know about Mary Robinson:
1) She was appointed Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin at the age of 25, becoming the youngest person to ever hold that post
2) As the first woman president of Ireland (1990–1997), she signed the bills that legalized the availability of contraceptives and decriminalized homosexuality
3) Mary Robinson has had no qualms about breaking taboos and leading the way as a global figure: she was the first Irish president to visit the United Kingdom while in office; the first head of state to visit Somalia after the 1992 crisis; the first head of state to visit Rwanda after the 1994 genocide; and the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Tibet
Photo courtesy of The Irish Post4) Since stepping down as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997–2002), she has held three different UN Special Envoy posts: Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate
5) She is one of 29 signatories of the Yogyakarta Principles, a set of principles developed in 2006 for the international protection of LGBT rights
6) Mary Robinson currently holds five honorary degrees (Brown University, University of Cambridge, Lisbon Nova University, McGill University, University of Bath) — The University of Alberta honorary Doctor of Laws degree will be her sixth
Photo courtesy of Zimbio7) In 2009, Mary Robinson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Barack Obama (other notable awards include: the North-South Prize, the Freedom Medal, the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize, the Sydney Peace Prize, the Otto Hahn Peace Medal, the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award, and the Outspoken Award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission)
8) At age 72, she remains an active partisan of human rights as the president and chair of the Mary Robinson Foundation — Climate Justice, a member of The Elders and the Club de Madrid, a board member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the European Climate Foundation, a member of the Eminent Advisory Board for the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, a board patron for the Institute for Human Rights and Business, the Honorary President of Oxfam International, an Honorary Co-Chair of the World Justice Project, and the chancellor of Trinity College Dublin
This event is open to the public — find out more here.here.