EDUCATION – Studied at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi;
Bachelor’s degree in economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, 1961; undertook graduate studies in economics at the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland, 1961-1962; master of science degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1972. Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1971-72.
Career Annan joined the United Nations in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization. He went on to serve in offices in New York, Geneva and Ethiopia. In 1992, he advanced to the U. N.’s high profile peacekeeping division, where he focused on, among other things, issues in Iraq and Asia. Four years later he was appointed secretary-general.
PERSONAL – Annan has been married to his second wife, Nane Lagergren, a Swedish lawyer and judge, since 1984. Annan has two children, Ama and Kojo from his first marriage to a Nigerian woman that ended in divorce. Lagergren also has a daughter, Nina, from her previous marriage. Annan and Lagergren live in New York. Kofi Atta Annan, current Secretary General of the United Nations, is a native of Ghana – at the time of his birth, still a British colony called Gold Coast. He was born on April 8th, 1938 in Kumasi the descendant of a prominent family of paramount chieftains of the Fante people.
His father was a politician – the elected governor of Ashanti province. Annan begun his education at a Ghanaian University, then completed a degree in Economics at Macalester College in ST. Paul, Minn. He pursued graduate studies in Geneva at the Institute Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationals. Again in the United States, Annan earned an M. S. in management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
By 1971, Annan had Joined the United Nations. He would spend most of his career in Europe, Africa and New York. Annan is a consummate insider and life long international civil servant in that organization.
His experience includes positions as Assistant Secretary General for Program Planning, Budget and Finance, head of human resources and security coordinator, director of the budget, chief of personnel of the High Commission for refugees and administrative officer for the economic commission for Africa. His background is primarily administrative.
He was named Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations on March 1, 1993. Soon after his appointement, Annan expressed regret dissatisfaction that the international community did so little to stop the killing in Somalia and the genocide in Rwanda in the winter and spring of 1993 and 1994, respectively. In the peace keeping post he did, however take on a delicate and complex jobs. He was sent to Iraq to negotiate the release of hostages and the safe transport of half a million Asian workers who had become stranded in that area. As representative of the U. N. Secretary General in Bosnia, He deftly negotiated his way among the four contentious outside powers who had intervened in Bosnia – the United States, Britain, France and Russia.
On the evening of December 13, 1996 Annan was named Secretary General of the United Nations – the first black African to hold the job.
In the future, Annan will grapple with the problem of gaining support for the United Nations from the organizations skeptics, especially the U. S. Congress.
Links Official Site of the UN Secretary General