Cristián Samper
Cristián Samper 2008
Born (1965-09-25) September 25, 1965
San José, Costa Rica
NationalityColombian-American
CitizenshipColombia, United States
Alma materUniversity of the Andes (B.Sc.)
Harvard University (M.Sc., Ph.D.)
AwardsDerek Bok Public Service Prize (1992)
Order of San Carlos (2014)
Scientific career
FieldsBiology
InstitutionsBezos Earth Fund (2022-present)
Wildlife Conservation Society (2012-2022)
National Museum of Natural History (2003-2012)
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (2001-2003)
Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute (1995-2001)

Cristián Samper (born September 25, 1965) is a Colombian-American tropical biologist specializing in conservation biology and environmental policy. He is the Managing Director and Leader of Nature Solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund. He served as President and CEO of WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) from 2012 to 2022.[1] He was the Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, the world's largest natural history collection, from 2003 to 2012, and served as acting Secretary of the Smithsonian from 2007 to 2008, the first Latin American to hold the position.[1] In April 2015, Samper was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[2]

Early life and education

Samper was born on September 25, 1965, in San José, Costa Rica, the youngest child of Armando Samper Gnecco, an agronomist and economist from Colombia, and Jean Kutschbach, an American from New York. He was raised in Colombia, from one year of age and spent part of his childhood in Chile. His other siblings are Marta, Belén, and Mario.[3]

Samper graduated in 1987 from the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, with a B.Sc. in Biology. He then moved to the United States to attend Harvard University, where he graduated in 1989 with a M.Sc., and received his Ph.D. in Biology in 1992 with his dissertation Natural disturbance and plant establishment in an Andean cloud forest.[4]

Career

In Colombia, Samper became the first director of the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, a public funded research institute from 1995 to 2001. He led the Colombian delegation to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, and served as Chairman of the Subsidiary Body of Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) from 1999 to 2001.

Smithsonian

He became deputy director and staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama in 2001,[5] and became the Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., in 2003.

In 2006, he made changes to an exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, "Seasons of Life and Land".[6] Following the resignation of Secretary Lawrence M. Small, the Board of Regents appointed Samper as the Smithsonian's Acting Secretary in 2007 and 2008.[7] He returned to the museum in July 2008 upon the appointment of G. Wayne Clough. In July 2012, he stepped down from the directorship of the museum to assume the position of president and CEO of WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).[8]

Wildlife Conservation Society

Samper served as president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for a decade from 2012 to 2022, where he oversaw the world's largest collection of urban parks—including the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo—and a global conservation program in 60 countries and across all the world's oceans. He advocated for ending elephant poaching[9] and all illegal wildlife trade.[10] Samper advocated for a state ivory ban in New York.[11]

In July 2020, Samper issued a public apology for the treatment of Ota Benga,[12] a young Central African from the Mbuti people of present-day Democratic Republic of Congo who was exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair and later displayed at the Bronx Zoo.

Bezos Earth Fund

Samper joined the Bezos Earth Fund as principal advisor in 2021, and became its managing director and leader of nature solutions in 2022.[13]

Affiliations and honors

The Smithsonian Board of Regents awarded the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service to Samper in 2008, and he was also awarded the Joseph Henry Medal when he left the Smithsonian in 2012. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos presented Samper with the Order of San Carlos in September 2014.

In April 2015, Samper was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is also a member of the Columbian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Personal life

In 2002 Samper married Adriana Casas Isaza, an environmental lawyer from Colombia with whom he has two children.[14][15] Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper is his cousin.[16][17]

References

  1. 1 2 Parker, Lonnae O'Neal. "Smithsonian Names New Director of Natural History Museum." Washington Post. July 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ "American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects National and International Scholars, Artists, Philanthropists, and Business and Civic Leaders". amacad.org. 2015-04-22. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  3. ↑ Samper, Cristián (2008-12-11). Construir Una Visión Para El Futuro (Speech). Turrialba, Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  4. ↑ Samper K, Cristián (1992). Natural disturbance and plant establishment in an Andean cloud forest (Thesis). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. OCLC 35826937.
  5. ↑ "Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Executive Staff - Cristián Samper". Mnh.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
  6. ↑ "Scientists Fault Climate Exhibit Changes", The Washington Post, James V. Grimaldi, Jacqueline Trescott, November 16, 2007
  7. ↑ "Smithsonian's Small Quits in Wake of Inquiry," Washington Post, Jacqueline Trescott, James V. Grimaldi, March 27, 2007. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  8. ↑ "Cristián Samper to Step Down As Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History". Smithsonian Newsdesk. 2012-01-23. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  9. ↑ Samper, Cristián; et al. (2013-09-27). "How to End the Elephant Slaughter". CNN.com. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
  10. ↑ Samper, Cristián (2015-03-03). "United Behind World Wildlife Day". HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
  11. ↑ "Africa’s Elephants, New York’s Problem", New York Daily News, Cyrus Vance, Jr., Cristián Samper, June 16, 2014
  12. ↑ Jacobs, Julia (2020-07-29). "Racist Incident From Bronx Zoo's Past Draws Apology". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  13. ↑ Fund, Bezos Earth. "Cristián Samper to Join Bezos Earth Fund as Managing Director and Leader of Nature Solutions". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  14. ↑ Tucker, Neely (2007-03-27). "Smithsonian Taps Scientist As Acting Secretary". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  15. ↑ Fog, Lisbeth (2010-02-11). "Cristián Samper". Universia Colombia (in Spanish): 2. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
  16. ↑ "El genio de los museos". www.dinero.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  17. ↑ Semana. "Cristián Samper, un biólogo colombiano, ha sido el responsable de que el Museo de Historia Natural, el cual dirige, se haya convertido en el más visitado de Estados Unidos". Cristián Samper, un biólogo colombiano, ha sido el responsable de que el Museo de Historia Natural, el cual dirige, se haya convertido en el más visitado de Estados Unidos. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
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