Wangari Muta Maathai, Conservationist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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In 1971, Maathai became the first woman in East or Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree; hers was from the University of Nairobi in veterinary anatomy. She was also the first female professor at the university and the first female chair of her department.

In 1977, she began to encourage women to plant trees to prevent erosion and provide firewood. The idea caught on and became known as the Green Belt Movement.

Maathai became the chair of the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1981. A few years later, the Green Belt Movement expanded to a number of other African countries.

Until the 2002 defeat of the corrupt Moi administration in Kenya, Maathai worked as an activist against the Kenyan government. During one protest, she was beaten by the police.