Julia Marton-Lefèvre

Julia Marton-Lefèvre

Julia Marton-Lefèvre was born in Hungary, educated in the United States and in France, and lives in in Paris and on the French side of f Lac Léman. Having lived and worked in several continents, she considers herself to be a global citizen. Education, environment, meaningful collaboration and leadership have been Julia’s main interests from an early age. She feels that she has had a privileged professional journey focusing on these themes.

Julia’s first job was a teacher in a Thai university as a part of the American Peace Corps programme. She then went on to work on a new environmental education programme at the United Nations.

Not feeling that she could accomplish enough in the intergovernmental system, she moved on to the non-governmental world, and headed up the International Science Council dedicated to scientific collaboration across disciplines and cultures. The next challenge that came her way was to direct the Rockefeller Foundation’s LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) international programme, committed to system leadership training for mid-career persons from all parts of the world.

She then moved to become Rector of the UN-affiliated University for Peace with its main campus in Costa Rica, focusing on graduate degree programmes in peace and security. She then returned to Europe as the Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) , with its global headquarters in Gland, not far from here.

Julia now devotes her time to use her vast experience by helping organizations focus on their mission through her participation as chair or as a member in boards of trustees, of NGOs, foundations, universities and corporations. Julia lectures regularly on environment and sustainable development topics in various universities including Yale University where she was the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Environment.

Julia has received numerous awards, including the AAAS prize for international cooperation in science, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Council for Science and the Environment Julia as also received recognition from the governments of France (Légion d’Honneur & Ordre de Mérite); Monaco (Ordre de St Charles: Hungary (Pronatura award) and the Presidential Citation from the Republic of Korea.

She is a Councillor of the World Future Council.