Biography
Geeta Rao Gupta, Ph.D., is president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a leading global authority on women’s role in development, and passionate advocate for women’s empowerment and the protection and fulfillment of women’s human rights. She has worked at ICRW as a consultant, researcher and officer since 1988, and has headed the private, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., since 1997.
Rao Gupta is an internationally renowned expert on women and HIV/AIDS, and frequently is consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women’s vulnerability to HIV. She has been recognized for her commitment to quality research, her dedication to educating policy-makers and the public on the gender-related aspects of HIV/AIDS, and her abiding commitment and overall contributions to the field, including: • Spearheading a groundbreaking, four-year project (27 studies in 15 countries) on factors that are fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS among women; • Advocating for women’s economic and social empowerment to prevent the spread of AIDS; and • Delivering the plenary at the 13th World AIDS Conference at Durban, South Africa, in addition to many other addresses at national and global conferences. Her recent efforts have focused on increasing support for research on microbicides, which can prevent HIV infection during sexual activity; community involvement in the design and implementation of services to prevent mother-to-child-transmission (MCTC) of HIV; and the urgent need to end child marriage and early childbearing. Apart from her work on HIV/AIDS, Rao Gupta is also known as a dynamic speaker and educator on adolescent sexuality and fertility, the unmet need for family planning, adolescent and maternal nutrition, and other health-related subjects affecting women and girls. She served as co-chair of the U.N. Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Youth Employment and co-chaired the U.N. Millennium Project’s Task Force on Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women from 2002 to 2005. She has received a number of awards, among them the Anne Rowe Award from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Working Mother Media Legacy Award. She serves on the Board of Directors of InterAction and the Moriah Fund, and on the Nike Foundation Advisory Board. Rao Gupta has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Bangalore University, a master of philosophy degree from the University of Delhi, and both a master and bachelor of arts in psychology from the University of Delhi. |
