children blankname birth_date signature term_end alma_mater constituency preceded term_start spouse namedata image name caption succeeded predecessor birth_place party office successor article_title birth_name
3 secretary-general 21 may 1944 maryrobinsonsignature.jpg 12 september 1997 12 september 2002 5 july 1989 trinity college , dublin harvard university university of dublin patrick hillery 3 december 1990 12 september 1997 5 november 1969 nicholas robinson -lrb- m. 1970 -- present -rrb- kofi annan mary robinson world economic forum 2013 crop.jpg mary robinson mary robinson in 2013 mary mcaleese josé ayala lasso william bedell stanford ballina , county mayo , ireland independent labour party -lrb- 1977 -- 1981 -rrb- 7th human rights senator president of ireland united nations high commissioner for sérgio vieira de mello carmencita hederman mary robinson
 mary therese winifred bourke
mary robinson

mary therese winifred robinson -lrb- née bourke ; ; born 21 may 1944 in ballina , county mayo -rrb- served as the seventh , and first female , president of ireland from 1990 to 1997 , and the united nations high commissioner for human rights , from 1997 to 2002 .
she first rose to prominence as an academic , barrister , campaigner and member of the irish senate -lrb- 1969 -- 1989 -rrb- .
she defeated fianna fáil 's brian lenihan and fine gael 's austin currie in the 1990 presidential election becoming , as an independent candidate nominated by the labour party , the workers ' party and independent senators , the first elected president in the office 's history not to have had the support of fianna fáil .
she is widely regarded as a transformative figure for ireland , and for the irish presidency , revitalising and liberalising a previously conservative , low-profile political office .
she resigned the presidency two months ahead of the end of her term of office to take up her post in the united nations .
during her un tenure , she visited tibet -lrb- 1998 -rrb- , the first high commissioner to do so ; she criticised ireland 's immigrant policy ; and criticised the use of capital punishment in the united states .
she extended her intended single four-year term by a year to preside over the world conference against racism 2001 in durban , south africa ; the conference proved controversial , and under continuing pressure from the us , robinson resigned her post in september 2002 .
after leaving the un in 2002 , robinson formed realizing rights : the ethical globalization initiative , which came to a planned end at the end of 2010 .
its core activities were 1 -rrb- fostering equitable trade and decent work , 2 -rrb- promoting the right to health and more humane migration policies , and 3 -rrb- working to strengthen women 's leadership and encourage corporate responsibility .
the organisation also supported capacity building and good governance in developing countries .
robinson returned to live in ireland at the end of 2010 , and has set up the mary robinson foundation - climate justice , which aims to be ' a centre for thought leadership , education and advocacy on the struggle to secure global justice for those many victims of climate change who are usually forgotten - the poor , the disempowered and the marginalised across the world . '
robinson is chair of the institute for human rights and business and chancellor of the university of dublin .
since 2004 , she has also been professor of practice in international affairs at columbia university , where she teaches international human rights .
robinson also visits other colleges and universities where she lectures on human rights .
robinson sits on the board of the mo ibrahim foundation , an organisation which supports good governance and great leadership in africa , and is a member of the foundation 's ibrahim prize committee .
robinson is an extraordinary professor in the centre for human rights and the centre for the study of aids at the university of pretoria .
robinson served as oxfam 's honorary president from 2002 until she stepped down in 2012 and is honorary president of the european inter-university centre for human rights and democratisation eiuc since 2005 .
she is chair of the international institute for environment and development -lrb- iied -rrb- and is also a founding member and chair of the council of women world leaders .
robinson was a member of the european members of the trilateral commission .
in 2004 , she received amnesty international 's ambassador of conscience award for her work in promoting human rights .
