Greg
Mortenson
(as of October 2007)
Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org,
Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org,
and co-author of #1 New York Times bestseller ‘Three Cups of Tea’ www.threecupsoftea.com.
Mortenson was
born in
Minnesota
in 1957. He grew up on the slopes of
Mt. Kilimanjaro
,
Tanzania
(1958 to 1973). His father, was a founder of Kilimanjaro Christian Medical
Center (KCMC) www.kcmc.ac.tz
a 480 bed teaching hospital, and his mother founded the
International School Moshi www.ismoshi.org
He served in
the U.S. Army in
Germany
during the Cold War (1977-1979), where he received the Army Commendation
Medal, and later graduated from the
Univ.
of
South Dakota
(1983), and pursued graduate studies in neurophysiology.
On
July 24th, 1992
, Mortenson’s younger sister, Christa, died
from a massive seizure after a lifelong struggle with epilepsy on the eve
of a trip to visit Dysersville, Iowa, where the baseball movie, ‘Field of Dreams, was filmed.
In 1993, to honor his sister’s memory, Mortenson climbed Pakistan’s
K2
, the world’s second highest mountain in the
Karakoram range.
After
K2
, while recovering in a local village called Korphe,
Mortenson met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks
in the sand, and made a promise to help them build a school. From
that rash promise, grew a remarkable humanitarian campaign, in which
Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education and literacy,
especially for girls, in remote, volatile regions of Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
As of 2007,
Mortenson has established over 61 schools in rural and often volatile
regions of Pakistan
and
Afghanistan, which provide education to over 25,000 children, including 14,000 girls,
where few education opportunities existed before.
His work has
not been without difficulty. In 1996, he survived an eight day armed
kidnapping in the Northwest Frontier Province NWFP tribal areas of
Pakistan, escaped a 2003 firefight with feuding Afghan warlords by hiding for
eight hours under putrid animal hides in a truck going to a
leather-tanning factory. He has overcome two fatwehs
from enraged Islamic mullahs, endured CIA investigations, and also
received hate mail and death threats from fellow Americans after 9/11, for
helping Muslim children with education.
Mortenson is
a living hero to rural communities of Afghanistan
and
Pakistan, where he has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders,
government officials and tribal chiefs from his tireless effort to
champion education, especially for girls.
He is one of
few foreigners who has worked extensively for
fifteen years (spending over 65 months) in the region now considered the
front lines of the war on terror. His cross-cultural expertise has
brought him to speak on
Capital Hill
,
D.C.
think tanks, the Pentagon, Dept. of Defense, libraries, outdoor groups,
universities, schools, churches, mosques, synagogues, business and civic
groups, women's organizations and more. From March 2006 through 2007, he
has visited over 110 cities to talk about his message of peace through
education.
NBC newscaster, Tom Brokaw, calls Mortenson, “one ordinary person, with
the right combination of character and determination, who is really
changing the world”. Congresswoman Mary
Bono (Rep– California) says, "I've learned more from Greg
Mortenson about the causes of terrorism than I did during all our
briefings on Capitol Hill. He is a true hero, whose creativity, courage,
and compassion exemplify the true ideals of the American spirit.”
Al Neuharth,
founder of USA Today, and the
D.C.-based Freedom Forum, says “Mortenson doesn’t just climb
mountains. He moves them, and through his courage, he gives hope and has
changed the lives of thousands of children in a region of turmoil
considered the front lines of the war on terror”.
Mortenson
advocates girls’ education as the top priority to promote economic
development, peace and prosperity, and says, “you
can drop bombs, hand out condoms, build roads, or put in electricity, but
until the girls are educated a society won’t change”.
While not
overseas half the year, Mortenson, 49, lives in
Bozeman
,
Montana
with his wife, Dr. Tara Bishop, a clinical psychologist, and two children.
Book
tour, reviews and media on www.threecupsoftea.com
Central
Asia Institute website www.ikat.org
Pennies
For Peace website www.penniesforpeace.org
Awards
1975 US Army Commendation medal
1998
American Alpine Club David Brower Conservation Award
2002
Peacemaker Award from
Montana
Community
Mediation
Center
2003
Climbing Magazine "Golden Piton Award" for humanitarian effort
2003
Vincent Lombardi Champion Award for humanitarian service
2003
Peacemaker of the Year" Benedictine Monks,
Santa Fe
,
NM
2003
Outdoor Person of the Year - Outdoor Magazine
2003
Salzburg Seminar fellow, sponsored by Microsoft
2004
Freedom Forum "Free Spirit Award" - National Press Club, D.C.
2004
Jeanette Rankin Peace Award - Institute for Peace
2005
Men's Journal 'Anti-Terror' Award by Senator John McCain
2005
Red Cross “Humanitarian of The Year”
Montana
2006
Golden Fleur-de-lis Award from
Comune
Firenze
,
Italy
2007
Medical Education Hall of Fame Award,
Toledo
,
Ohio
2007
Rotary International Paul Harris Award for Promoting Friendly Relations Among
People
2007
Mountain Institute Award for Excellence
in Mountain Community Service
2007
Dayton
Literary Peace Prize
Three
Cups of Tea - Book
Awards and Mentions
Kiriyama
Prize Nonfiction Award
Time
Magazine
Asia
Book of The Year
Pacific Northwest
Booksellers Association - Nonfiction Award
Montana
Honor Book Award
Borders
Bookstore Original Voices Selection
Banff
Mountain
Festival Book Award Finalist
Dayton
Literary Prize Nonfiction Award – runner up
People Magazine – Critics Choice
Publisher’s
Weekly – Starred Review
