Mostafa Kamal Tolba was born on December 8, 1922, and died on March 28, 2016.
He was an Egyptian scientist.
He served for 17-year as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Tolba was born in the town of Zifta (located in Gharbia Governorate), and graduated from Cairo University in 1943, and obtained a PhD from Imperial College London five years later.
Mostafa Kamal Tolba founded his own school in microbiology at Cairo University’s Faculty of Science, and also taught at the University of Baghdad during the 1950s.
Also to his academic career, Mostafa worked in the Egyptian civil service.
He worked for a little while 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.
Mostafa Kamal Tolba then became the UNEP’s Deputy Executive Director immediately after the conference, and two years later was promoted to Executive Director.
His long career lasted from 1975 to 1992, he played a role in the fight against ozone depletion, which culminated with the Vienna Convention (1985) and the Montreal Protocol (1987).
Mostafa Kamal Tolba passed away at 93 yrs old.