Mostafa Kamal Tolba

Mostafa Kamal Tolba (8 December 1922 – 28 March 2016) was an Egyptian scientist who served for seventeen years as the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In that capacity he led development of the Montreal Protocol, which saved the ozone layer and thus millions of lives from skin cancer and other impacts. Biography Mustafa Kamal Tolba was born in the town of Zifta (located in Gharbia Governorate), Tolba graduated from Cairo University in 1943 and obtained a PhD from Imperial College London five years later. He established his own school in microbiology at Cairo University's Faculty of Science and also taught at the University of Baghdad during the 1950s. In addition to his academic career Tolba worked in the Egyptian civil service. After serving briefly as President of the Egyptian Olympic Committee (1971–1972), Tolba led Egypt's delegation to the landmark 1972 Stockholm Conference, which established the United Nations Environment Programme. Tolba became UNEP's Deputy Executive Director immediately after the conference, and two years later was promoted to executive director.