Malcolm Adiseshiah
From 1 to 16 November 1945 a United Nations Conference was convened in London for the establishment of an educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF). In the conference, a new organization was created to establish the “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” and thus prevent the outbreak of another world war. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded by thirty-seven countries. Its Constitution to promote collaboration between member states in the fields of education, science and culture was signed on 16 November 1945 and came into force on 4 November 1946. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India, was a former student of Adiseshiah’s father. He made a referral to Sir Julian Huxley, then Director-General of UNESCO, who invited Adiseshiah to the organization in 1948. He was posted as Deputy Director of the department of exchange of persons. In that capacity Adiseshiah signed the UNESCO Fellowship letter in 1949 to M. S. Swaminathan, eminent scientist and administrator, to pursue research at the Agricultural University in Wageningen, the Netherlands which was the starting point of his illustrious career.
Genevieve Fiore
Genevieve Fiore (1912–2002) was an American women's rights and peace activist, who was the founder, and served as the executive director, of the Colorado Division of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Her UNESCO Club was founded in the year the clubs were first conceived and was the third organization established in the world. In 1967 she was honored as one of the inductees for the Colorado Women of Achievement Award. She was knighted by Italy in 1975 receiving the rank of Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia. In 1991, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame for her many years of peace activism and work with women's rights issues.