Greg Mortenson

Biographical Details
"Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org, founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org , and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea www.threecupsoftea.com , and author of the bestsellerStones into Schools www.stonesintoschools.com.

"In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his dedicated and humanitarian effort to promote education and literacy in rural areas for fifteen years.

"Several bi-partisan U.S. Congressional representatives nominated Mortenson for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. The award recipient is chosen by a secret process and announced in October.

"Mortenson was born in Minnesota in 1957. He grew up on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (1958 to 1973). His father Dempsey, co-founded Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) www.kcmc.ac.tz a teaching hospital, and his mother, Jerene, founded the International School Moshi www.ismoshi.org ."


 * Winner of the 2007 Dayton Peace Prize

Criticism

 * Nosheen Ali, "Books vs Bombs? Humanitarian development and the narrative of terror in Norther Pakistan," (pdf) Third World Quarterly, 2010.
 * Michael Barker, "Three Cups of Tea for Imperialism! Greg Mortenson’s Participatory Militarism", CounterPunch, August 10, 2010.
 * Jon Krakauer, Three Cups of Deceit (Byliner, 2011).

Related Sourcewatch

 * Albert Schweitzer - inspiration