Greg Mortenson (bio 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 24^th, 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 – Cali.) 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

 

Contact Info:

 

C/O: Jennifer Sipes

Operations Director

Central Asia Institute

PO Box 7209

Bozeman, MT USA 59771

Phone 406-585-7841

Fax     406-585-5302

Email cai@ikat.org

Web   www.ikat.org