Tim Wirth
Encyclopedia
Timothy Endicott Wirth is a former United States Senator from Colorado
. Wirth, a Democrat, was a member of the House
from 1975 to 1987 and was elected to the Senate in 1986, serving one term there before stepping down. He was Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs during the Clinton Administration. In the State Department, he worked with Vice President Al Gore
on global environmental and population issues, supporting the administration's views on global warming
. A supporter of the proposed Kyoto Protocol
, Wirth announced the U.S.'s commitment to legally binding limits on greenhouse gas
emissions. Since 1998 he has served as the president of the United Nations Foundation
.
, received his B.A. and graduate degree from Harvard University
and was awarded a PhD
from Stanford University
in 1973. He has also served as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. Wirth is married to Wren Winslow Wirth, the President of the Winslow Foundation; together they have two children, Chris and Kelsey Wirth. Their daughter, Kelsey Wirth, is the co-founder of the orthodontic production company Align Technology, makers of Invisalign
http://www.activistcash.com/biography.cfm/bid/2828 and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Grist Magazine
, The Environmental Working Group and the Winslow Foundation. Their son, Chris Wirth, is founder of Liberty Puzzles
, the largest American laser-cut jigsaw puzzle company, based in Boulder, Colorado. His nephew, Peter Wirth, was elected in 2004 to the New Mexico State Legislature. His brother, the late John Wirth
, was the Gildred Professor of Latin American Studies
at Stanford University
.
by a 52% to 48% margin. He represented Boulder and the Denver suburbs in Congress from 1975–1987. As a first term Congressman, Wirth organized the “Freshman Revolt” in 1975 unseating a handful of "old bull" committee chairmen, and encouraging others to be more inclusive. Wirth had a number of difficult reelections during his 12 years in Congress, and raised large sums of money to get reelected. With colleagues Norman Mineta
, Leon Panetta
and Dick Gephardt
, he was part of “The Gang of Four” on the House Budget Committee challenging the budget process with bipartisan budget ideas, and developing a high technology and alternative budget in 1982. As Chair of the Telecommunications Subcommittee, he was the lead legislator in bringing competition to the video and telephone industries. Wirth also authored the Indian Peaks Wilderness Act of 1978.
In 1986, Wirth ran for the U.S. Senate and on his party's nomination unopposed to replace Sen. Gary Hart. The general election was more difficult than expected, and he defeated fellow U.S. Representative Ken Kramer
by a narrow margin. In the Senate, he focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate change and population stabilization. In 1988, he organized the historic Hansen hearings on climate change. With his close friend, the late Senator John Heinz (R-PA), he authored “Project 88”, outlining the groundbreaking “Cap and Trade” idea which became law in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. He authored the far-reaching Colorado Wilderness Bill which became law in 1993, and with Senator Alan Simpson
(R-WY) he authored major legislation focused on population stabilization. Wirth also organized the Senate Task Force on the Expansion of Major League Baseball, which became a major factor in the awarding of a new expansion franchise to Denver. He chose not to run for re-election in 1992, citing in a front page cover story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine (August 9, 1992), frustration with the ever increasing role of money in politics to the exclusion of focus on public policy.
Climate Conference until he resigned from the Administration in late 1997 to accept Ted Turner’s invitation to be President of the newly created United Nations Foundation
.
As President of the UN Foundation (UNF) since its inception in early 1998, Wirth has organized and led the formulation of the Foundation’s mission and program priorities, which include the environment, women and population, children’s health, and peace, security and human rights. The Foundation also engages in extensive public advocacy, fundraising, and institutional strengthening efforts on behalf of the United Nations. By mobilizing these diverse resources, the UN Foundation works with many public and private partners and manages a variety of campaigns to help solve major problems facing the UN and the world community.
The University of Colorado at Denver currently has an endowed Tim Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy. The current holder of the chair is the man Wirth replaced in the Senate, Gary Hart
.
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Wirth, a Democrat, was a member of the House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from 1975 to 1987 and was elected to the Senate in 1986, serving one term there before stepping down. He was Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs during the Clinton Administration. In the State Department, he worked with Vice President Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
on global environmental and population issues, supporting the administration's views on global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
. A supporter of the proposed Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
, Wirth announced the U.S.'s commitment to legally binding limits on greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions. Since 1998 he has served as the president of the United Nations Foundation
United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation started up in 1998 with a $1 billion grant from Ted Turner in order to support the United Nations in executing its programs worldwide. The creation of the Foundation was intended to encourage other donors to also support the UN in its activities...
.
Early life Career and Family
Wirth is a graduate of Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
, received his B.A. and graduate degree from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and was awarded a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1973. He has also served as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. Wirth is married to Wren Winslow Wirth, the President of the Winslow Foundation; together they have two children, Chris and Kelsey Wirth. Their daughter, Kelsey Wirth, is the co-founder of the orthodontic production company Align Technology, makers of Invisalign
Invisalign
Invisalign is a series of clear, removable teeth aligners that both orthodontists and dentists use as an alternative to traditional metal dental braces. As of April 2008, more than 730,000 patients have completed or are currently in treatment....
http://www.activistcash.com/biography.cfm/bid/2828 and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Grist Magazine
Grist Magazine
Grist is a free American liberal non-profit online magazine that has been publishing environmental news and commentary with a wry twist since 1999. Grists taglines are "Gloom and doom with a sense of humor" and "A beacon in the smog"...
, The Environmental Working Group and the Winslow Foundation. Their son, Chris Wirth, is founder of Liberty Puzzles
Liberty Puzzles
Liberty Puzzles is a manufacturer of classic style wooden jigsaw puzzles based in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 2005 by Christopher Wirth and his business partner Jeffrey Eldridge, after Wirth’s family inherited several hand-cut wooden puzzles from the 1930s...
, the largest American laser-cut jigsaw puzzle company, based in Boulder, Colorado. His nephew, Peter Wirth, was elected in 2004 to the New Mexico State Legislature. His brother, the late John Wirth
John Wirth
John Davis Wirth was the Gildred Professor of Latin American Studies at Stanford University. Wirth earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1958 and a doctorate in Latin American history in 1967 from Stanford. His dissertation was entitled Brazilian economic nationalism: trade and...
, was the Gildred Professor of Latin American Studies
Latin American Studies
Latin American studies is an academic discipline dealing with the study of Latin America and Latin Americans.-Definition:Latin American studies critically examines the history, culture, politics, and experiences of Latin Americans in Latin America and often also elsewhere .Latin American studies...
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Political career
Wirth began his political career as a White House Fellow under President Lyndon Johnson and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education in the Nixon Administration. In 1970, Wirth returned to his home state and ran successfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, unseating incumbent Republican Donald G. BrotzmanDonald G. Brotzman
Donald Glenn Brotzman was a U.S. Representative from Colorado.-History:Brotzman was born on a farm in near Sterling, Colorado in Logan County to Priscella Ruth Kittle Smith and Harry Brotzman . He was educated in Logan County schools. He married Louise L. Reed on April 9, 1944...
by a 52% to 48% margin. He represented Boulder and the Denver suburbs in Congress from 1975–1987. As a first term Congressman, Wirth organized the “Freshman Revolt” in 1975 unseating a handful of "old bull" committee chairmen, and encouraging others to be more inclusive. Wirth had a number of difficult reelections during his 12 years in Congress, and raised large sums of money to get reelected. With colleagues Norman Mineta
Norman Mineta
Norman Yoshio Mineta, is a United States politician of the Democratic Party. Mineta most recently served in President George W. Bush's Cabinet as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in the Bush administration...
, Leon Panetta
Leon Panetta
Leon Edward Panetta is the 23rd and current United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama since 2011. Prior to taking office, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency...
and Dick Gephardt
Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew "Dick" Gephardt is a lobbyist and former prominent American politician of the Democratic Party. Gephardt served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from January 3, 1977, until January 3, 2005, serving as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, and as Minority Leader from 1995 to...
, he was part of “The Gang of Four” on the House Budget Committee challenging the budget process with bipartisan budget ideas, and developing a high technology and alternative budget in 1982. As Chair of the Telecommunications Subcommittee, he was the lead legislator in bringing competition to the video and telephone industries. Wirth also authored the Indian Peaks Wilderness Act of 1978.
In 1986, Wirth ran for the U.S. Senate and on his party's nomination unopposed to replace Sen. Gary Hart. The general election was more difficult than expected, and he defeated fellow U.S. Representative Ken Kramer
Ken Kramer
For the stand-up comedian and Seinfeld character inspiration, see Kenny Kramer.Kenneth Bentley "Ken" Kramer is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Colorado....
by a narrow margin. In the Senate, he focused on environmental issues, particularly global climate change and population stabilization. In 1988, he organized the historic Hansen hearings on climate change. With his close friend, the late Senator John Heinz (R-PA), he authored “Project 88”, outlining the groundbreaking “Cap and Trade” idea which became law in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. He authored the far-reaching Colorado Wilderness Bill which became law in 1993, and with Senator Alan Simpson
Alan K. Simpson
Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S...
(R-WY) he authored major legislation focused on population stabilization. Wirth also organized the Senate Task Force on the Expansion of Major League Baseball, which became a major factor in the awarding of a new expansion franchise to Denver. He chose not to run for re-election in 1992, citing in a front page cover story in the Sunday New York Times Magazine (August 9, 1992), frustration with the ever increasing role of money in politics to the exclusion of focus on public policy.
After Congressional Service
Following two decades of elected politics, Wirth was national Co-chair of the Clinton-Gore campaign, and served in the U.S. Department of State as the first Undersecretary for Global Affairs from 1993 to 1997. He led U.S. foreign policy in the areas of refugees, population, environment, science, human rights and narcotics. He chaired the United States Delegation at the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development, and was the lead U.S. negotiator for the KyotoKyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
Climate Conference until he resigned from the Administration in late 1997 to accept Ted Turner’s invitation to be President of the newly created United Nations Foundation
United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation started up in 1998 with a $1 billion grant from Ted Turner in order to support the United Nations in executing its programs worldwide. The creation of the Foundation was intended to encourage other donors to also support the UN in its activities...
.
As President of the UN Foundation (UNF) since its inception in early 1998, Wirth has organized and led the formulation of the Foundation’s mission and program priorities, which include the environment, women and population, children’s health, and peace, security and human rights. The Foundation also engages in extensive public advocacy, fundraising, and institutional strengthening efforts on behalf of the United Nations. By mobilizing these diverse resources, the UN Foundation works with many public and private partners and manages a variety of campaigns to help solve major problems facing the UN and the world community.
Work with the United Nations Foundation
- Mobilizing resources in support of the eradication of polio with Rotary InternationalRotary InternationalRotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
, the Gates Foundation, and the World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
; - Initiating a global campaign to diminish the impact of measles with the American Red CrossAmerican Red CrossThe American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
, the Centers for Disease Control and UN Agencies; - Stimulating a nationwide grassroots program for the purchase of anti-malaria bed nets (“Nothing But NetsNothing But NetsNothing But Nets is a charitable organization, supported by the United Nations Foundation, which aims to prevent African children from dying of malaria by purchasing, distributing and teaching the proper use of mosquito bed nets.-Background:...
”) with many partners (including the World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
and the National Basketball AssociationNational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
); - Organizing support for the special needs of adolescent girls within the UN and many private sector partners with NikeNike, Inc.Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
and lead UN Agencies; - Supporting the United Nations Population FundUnited Nations Population FundThe United Nations Population Fund is a UN organization. The work of the UNFPA involves promotion of the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. This is done through major national and demographic surveys and with population censuses...
, and working with Congress to increase U.S. funding and bring greater focus to AIDS prevention; - Developing standards for better managing tourism’s impact on the environment and contribution to climate change in close partnership with UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and with ExpediaExpediaExpedia is an Internet-based travel website based in the US with localised sites for 21 countries...
and other industry leaders; - Leading work to develop the UN framework for the post-Kyoto climate negotiations through a close partnership with the UN’s leadership and retired heads of State throughout the world (The Club of Madrid);
- Managing a public-private effort with major segments of the agriculture community and UN agencies for better understanding of the promise, challenge and economics of bioenergy; and
- Advancing aggressive standards for energy efficiency in the U.S. and abroad with the U.S.-centered Energy Future Coalition.
The University of Colorado at Denver currently has an endowed Tim Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy. The current holder of the chair is the man Wirth replaced in the Senate, Gary Hart
Gary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
.