U Thant (22 Jan. 1909 – 25 Nov. 1974

January 22 marked the centenary of the birth of U Thant, the Burmese diplomat who served as the United Nations’ 3rd Secretary-General (1961–1971).  It was U Thant who, in 1969, first proposed the creation of the United Nations University.

In a message to a ceremony held at the U Thant Institute in Myanmar (delivered by Bishow Parajuli, UN Resident Coordinator, Myanmar), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid tribute to U Thant  saying that he had “put forth a vision of a truly global society, and emphasized the need, as he put it, ‘to understand each other and to develop a spirit of One World’”.

Ban noted that “Thant stressed throughout his life the importance of learning about the world. As Secretary-General, he proposed the creation of both the United Nations University and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in the belief that education is vital to building a better future for all.”

The United Nations University honours the memory of U Thant and his profound legacy of peace and education — as important now as at any time — in our continued efforts to better understand and solve the pressing problems of humanity.