Dr. Patrick J. Bergin Appointed to Lead The African Wildlife Foundation

Washington, D.C. -- The African Wildlife Foundation's (AWF) Chairman of the Board, Stuart T. Saunders Jr., has announced that Dr. Patrick J. Bergin has been appointed to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2002. Dr. Bergin succeeds R. Michael Wright, AWF's President and CEO for the last seven and one half years. Mr. Wright is leaving AWF to join the MacArthur Foundation to direct its Conservation and Sustainable Development Program.

Dr. Bergin was appointed Vice President for African Operations for AWF in April 1999. Currently based in Nairobi, Kenya, Dr. Bergin was born in the United States and is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana. In 1987, he was awarded a Master of Science degree in the Management of Extension Systems from the same University. From 1988 to 1989, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania and in 1990 as a training officer for Peace Corps Tanzania. In late 1990, Dr. Bergin joined AWF as a project officer assigned to the Tanzania National Parks Community Conservation service. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Development from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom for his thesis "The Institutionalization of Community Conservation in Tanzania National Parks."

Dr. Bergin played a major role in the conceptualization and development of both the Community Conservation Service Center and AWF's current Five-Year Plan. In his capacity as Vice President, Dr. Bergin supervises AWF's two major initiatives - African Heartlands and Conservation Service Centers. He is AWF's senior representative in Africa. He is also an elected trustee of the Maasai development organization, Inyuat a Maa.

The African Wildlife Foundation has been working since 1961 to protect the wildlife, people, and landscapes of Africa, and is currently celebrating forty years of accomplishments.