Secretary General Trygve Halvdan Lie

(July 16, 1896, Kristiania, Norway-December 30, 1968, Geilo, Norway). 1st Secretary General of the United Nations, 1946-1952. Attorney. Leading member of the Norwegian Labour Party. Minister of Justice of Norway, 1935-1939. Member of Norwegian Parliament, 1936-1946. Minister of Trade and Industries, July-September, 1939. Minister of Supply and Shipping, 1939-1940. Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Government-in-Exile, December, 1940. Minister of Foreign Affairs, February, 1941-1946. Chairman, Norwegian Delegation to the United Nations, 1945-1946. First Secretary General of the United Nations, February 2, 1946-November, 1952. Governor of Oslo and Akershus, Norway, 1955. Chairman, Norwegian Board of Energy. United Nations Mediator between Ethiopia and Italy to settle the Somali border, 1959. Minister of Industries of Norway, 1963-1964. Minister of Commerce of Norway, 1965. Author of In the Cause of Peace (1954).

Secretary General Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjold

(July 29, 1905, Jonkoping, Sweden-September 18, 1961, Africa). 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations, 1952-1961. Vice Chairman, Executive Committee, Organization for European Recovery, 1948-1949. Deputy Foreign Minister and Cabinet Minister without Portfolio of Sweden, 1951. Chief of the Swedish Delegation to the United Nations, 1952-1953. Second Secretary General of the United Nations, April 7, 1953-September 18, 1961. Died in a plane crash near the border of Katanga and North Rhodesia while on a mission concerning a separatist movement in Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1961. Author of Markings (1964).

Secretary General U Thant

(January 22, 1909, Pantanaw, Burma-November 25, 1974). 3rd Secretary General of the United Nations, 1961-1971. Teacher. Member, Burma Education Reorganization Committee, 1942. Press Director, Governor of Burma, 1947. Director of Broadcasting, 1948. Secretary to the Government of Burma, 1948. Secretary for Projects, Office of the Prime Minister of Burma, 1953. Additionally, Executive Secretary, Burma Economic and Social Board, 1958. Burmese Ambassador to the United Nations, 1957-1961. 3rd Secretary General of the United Nations, November 3, 1961-December 31, 1971.

Secretary General Kurt Waldheim

(December 21, 1918, Sankt Andra-Wordern, Austria-June 14, 2007, Vienna, Austria). 4th Secretary General of the United Nations, 1972-1982. Austrian Ambassador to the United Nations, 1955, 1964-1968, October, 1970-January 1, 1972. Austrian Minister and Ambassador to Canada, 1956-1960. Foreign Minister of Austria, January, 1968-April, 1970. Candidate for President of Austria, 1971. 4th Secretary General of the United Nations, January 1, 1972-January 1, 1982. Blocked from re-election to a third term by a Chinese veto. President of Austria, 1986-1992. Caused a scandal when it was revealed that he was an officer in the German army unit that committed atrocities in Yugoslavia in World War II, despite being cleared of complicity.

Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar

(January 19, 1920, Lima, Peru-Alive). 5th Secretary General of the United Nations, 1982-1992. Peruvian diplomat, 1940. Ambassador, 1962. Peruvian Ambassador to Switzerland, 1964-1966. Secretary General for Foreign Affairs of Peru, 1966-1969. Peruvian Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. and Poland, 1969-1971. Peruvian Ambassador to the United Nations, 1971-1975. Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Cyprus, September 18, 1975-December, 1977. Peruvian Ambassador to Venezuela, 1978. Under-Secretary General of the United Nations for Special Political Affairs, February 27, 1979-May, 1981. Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, 1981. Fifth Secretary General of the United Nations, January 1, 1982-January 1, 1992. Professor of International Law, Academia Diplomatica of Peru.

Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

(November 14, 1922, Cairo, Egypt-Alive). 6th Secretary General of the United Nations, 1992-1997. Professor of International Law and International Relations, Cairo University, 1949-1977. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Egypt, October, 1977-May, 1991. Member, International Law Commission, 1979-1991. National Democratic Party (National Secretariat, 1980). Vice President, Socialist International. Member, Egyptian Parliament, 1987-1991. Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs of Egypt, May, 1991-January 1, 1992. 6th Secretary General of the United Nations, January 1, 1992-January 1, 1997. Secretary General, La Francophonie, 1997-Current. A Coptic Christian. Helped negotiate the Camp David Accords. Denied re-election as Secretary General of the UN after policy disagreements with the United States.

Secretary General Kofi Annan

(April 8, 1938, Kumasi, Ghana-Alive). 7th Secretary General of the United Nations, 1997-2007. Budget Officer, World Health Organization, 1962. Served with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Emergency Force in Ismailia, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and Security Coordination for the UN System, 1987-1990. Assistant Secretary General for Programme Planning, Budget and Finance and Controller of the United Nations, 1990-1992. Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, March, 1992-February, 1993. Under Secretary General of the United Nations, march, 1993-December, 1996. Seventh Secretary General of the United nations, January 1, 1997-January 1, 2007. First Secretary-General to be elected from the ranks of the United Nations staff. Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, 2001.

Ban Ki Moon

(June 13, 1944, Chungcheong, Korea-Alive). 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, 2007-Current. Ambassador of the Republic of Korean to Austria, c. 1999. Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, January, 2004-November 1, 2006. 8th Secretary General of the United Nations, January 1, 2007-Current.