Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the current president of Liberia and Africa's first elected female head of state. The Liberian elections commission announced her victory on November 23, 2005, following the 2005 election. She is the second elected black woman head of state in the world and also second female leader of Liberia after Ruth Perry (who assumed leadership after an overthrow), and the third such head of government after Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady".
Two of Johnson-Sirleaf's grandparents were indigenous Liberians; Her father, the son of the Gola Chief Jahmale and Jenneh, one of his many wives, was born in Julejuah, Bomi County. As a result of her grandfather's friendship and loyalty to President Hilary Richard Wright Johnson and on the advice of the President, her father was brought to , his name changed to Johnson and he was given to the settler family, McCritty.
Johnson-Sirleaf graduated from the College of West Africa (Monrovia), a United Methodist high school. She received a Bsc in Accounting at Madison Business College in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. in 1964, an economics diploma from the University of Colorado in 1970, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1971. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated[1], a social action organization and the first collegiate sorority founded by and for Black women (1908). [More]
Source: wikipedia.org |