David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award

Each year, University for a Night participants honor people and/or organizations that exemplify what the evening stands for - working together for the common good. The first such honoree was David Rockefeller, for whom this award is named.

This year, we will honor President Bill Clinton with this award.

Bill Clinton: Statesman, Bridge-builder, Innovator

President Bill Clinton was elected President twice - in 1992 and 1996. While President, he led the country through the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs.

After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to improve global health, strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods, and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens to turn good intentions into measurable results.

Today the Foundation works to improve lives through initiatives such as the Clinton Health Access Initiative, which is helping more than four million people living with HIV/AIDS access lifesaving drugs. The Clinton Climate Initiative, the Clinton Development Initiative, and the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative apply a business-oriented approach worldwide to fight climate change and develop sustainable economic growth in Africa and Latin America. The Clinton Global Initiative brings together global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. In the United States, the Foundation is working to combat childhood obesity through the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and is helping individuals and families succeed and small businesses grow.

President Clinton joined with former President George H.W. Bush three times to address major disasters - the 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Ike. Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, President Clinton dedicated Clinton Foundation resources to help with immediate and long-term relief and assistance, and at the request of President Obama joined with President George W. Bush to create the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which supports organizations on the ground in long-term rebuilding.

Past Honorees

2011

• Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, President, African Women’s Development Fund
• Jennifer and Peter Buffett, Co-Chairs of the NoVo Foundation

2010

• Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Unite
• Zainab Salbi, Founder, Women for Women International.

2009

• Kofi Annan, Seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations and Founder and Chair, Kofi Annan Foundation
• Sheela Patel, Founder and Director, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres, and Chair, Shack/Slum Dwellers International

2008

• Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan
• Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, BRAC

2007

• Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa
• Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and William H. Gates Sr., Co-Chairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

2006

• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia
• Ted Turner, Founder and Chairman, United Nations Foundation

2005

• Corazon C. Aquino, Chairperson, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation and former President of the Philippines
• James D. Wolfensohn, Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement and former President of the World Bank

2004

• John C. Whitehead, Chairman of the Board, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
• Foundation for Community Development of Mozambique

2003

• David Rockefeller

Positions listed are those held at time of event