Cristián Samper

Samper was born on September 25, 1965, in San José, Costa Rica to Armando Samper Gnecco, a Colombian agronomist and economist, and Jean Kutschbach, an American from New York. The youngest of four children, he was raised in Colombia from the age of one and spent part of his childhood in Chile.

In 1987, Samper graduated from the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, with a B.Sc. in Biology. He then moved to the United States to attend Harvard University, where he earned a M.Sc. in 1989 and a Ph.D. in Biology in 1992 with his dissertation Natural disturbance and plant establishment in an Andean cloud forest.{{cite book |title=Natural disturbance and plant establishment in an Andean cloud forest |first=Cristián |last=Samper K |year=1992 |type=Thesis |oclc=35826937 |publisher=Harvard University |location=Cambridge, MA}}

From 1995 to 2001, Samper was the first director of the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute in Colombia. He also led the Colombian delegation to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and served as Chairman of the Subsidiary Body of Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) from 1999 to 2001.

In 2001, he became deputy director and staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.{{cite web|date=|title=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - Executive Staff - Cristián Samper|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/about/samper.html|accessdate=2010-07-27|publisher=Mnh.si.edu|archive-date=2010-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619135037/http://www.mnh.si.edu/about/samper.html|url-status=dead}} In 2003, he became the Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

In 2006, he commented on an exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, "Seasons of Life and Land".[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502550.html?hpid=topnews "Scientists Fault Climate Exhibit Changes"], The Washington Post, James V. Grimaldi, Jacqueline Trescott, November 16, 2007 Following the resignation of Secretary Lawrence M. Small, the Board of Regents appointed Samper as the Smithsonian's Acting Secretary in 2007 and 2008.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600643.html "Smithsonian's Small Quits in Wake of Inquiry," Washington Post, Jacqueline Trescott, James V. Grimaldi, March 27, 2007. Retrieved 2012-03-27.] Upon the appointment of G. Wayne Clough, he returned to the museum in July 2008. In July 2012, he stepped down as director to become president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).{{cite news|url=http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/cristian-samper-step-down-director-smithsonian-s-national-museum-natural-history |title=Cristián Samper to Step Down As Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History |publisher=Smithsonian Newsdesk |date= 2012-01-23|accessdate=2012-03-27}}

Samper was president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) from 2012 to 2022.{{cite web | url=https://sdgs.un.org/panelists/mr-cristian-samper-30102 | title=Mr. Cristian Samper | Department of Economic and Social Affairs }} During his tenure, he oversaw a system of urban parks—including the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo—and a global conservation program active in 60 countries and across all the world's oceans. He advocated for ending elephant poaching{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/27/opinion/samper-elephant-preservation/ |title=How to End the Elephant Slaughter |publisher=CNN.com |date= 2013-09-27|accessdate=2015-04-14 | first=Cristián | last=Samper|display-authors=etal}} and illegal wildlife trade,{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-cristian-samper/united-behind-world-wildl_b_6794660.html |title=United Behind World Wildlife Day |publisher=HuffingtonPost.com |date= 2015-03-03|accessdate=2015-04-14 | first=Cristián | last=Samper}} including advocating for a state ivory ban in New York.[http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/africa-elephants-new-york-problem-article-1.1829277 "Africa’s Elephants, New York’s Problem"], New York Daily News, Cyrus Vance, Jr., Cristián Samper, June 16, 2014

In July 2020, Samper issued a public apology for the treatment of Ota Benga,{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Julia |date=2020-07-29 |title=Racist Incident From Bronx Zoo's Past Draws Apology |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/arts/bronx-zoo-apology-racism.html |access-date=2021-01-25 |issn=0362-4331}} a young Central African from the Mbuti people of present-day Democratic Republic of Congo who was exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair and later displayed at the Bronx Zoo.

Samper joined the Bezos Earth Fund as principal advisor in 2021 and became its managing director and leader of nature solutions in 2022.{{Cite press release |last=Fund |first=Bezos Earth |title=Cristián Samper to Join Bezos Earth Fund as Managing Director and Leader of Nature Solutions |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cristian-samper-to-join-bezos-earth-fund-as-managing-director-and-leader-of-nature-solutions-301544476.html |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}

The Smithsonian Board of Regents awarded Samper the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service in 2008, and he was also awarded the Joseph Henry Medal when he left the Smithsonian in 2012.{{Cite web |last=Institution |first=Smithsonian |title=The Henry Medal |url=https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/henry-medal |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Smithsonian Institution |language=en}} In September 2014, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos presented Samper with the Order of San Carlos.{{Cite web |title=El Presidente Colombiano distingue al Dr. Cristián Samper, Presidente y Director Ejecutivo de WCS |url=https://colombia.wcs.org/es-es/WCS-Colombia/Noticias/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2666/El-Presidente-Colombiano-distingue-al-Dr-Cristian-Samper-Presidente-y-Director-Ejecutivo-de-WCS.aspx |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=colombia.wcs.org |language=es-ES}}

In April 2015, Samper was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the Colombian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the Council on Foreign Relations.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-12 |title=Cristián T. Samper {{!}} American Academy of Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/cristian-t-samper |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=www.amacad.org |language=en}}

In 2002, Samper married Adriana Casas Isaza, an environmental lawyer from Colombia. They have two children.{{cite news |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Neely |last=Tucker |authorlink=Neely Tucker |date=2007-03-27 |accessdate=2010-11-02 |title=Smithsonian Taps Scientist As Acting Secretary |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601883.html}}{{cite journal |journal=Universia Colombia |title=Cristián Samper |date=2010-02-11 |accessdate=2010-11-02 |language=Spanish |first=Lisbeth |last=Fog |page=2 |url=http://especiales.universia.net.co/galeria-de-cientificos/matematicas-y-ciencias-naturales/cristian-samper.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707053318/http://especiales.universia.net.co/galeria-de-cientificos/matematicas-y-ciencias-naturales/cristian-samper.html |archive-date=2011-07-07 |url-status=dead }} Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper is his cousin.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dinero.com/negocios/articulo/el-genio-museos/141620|title=El genio de los museos|website=www.dinero.com|date=14 December 2011 |language=en|access-date=2017-04-17}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.semana.com/gente/articulo/una-vida-museo/114593-3|title=Cristián Samper, un biólogo colombiano, ha sido el responsable de que el Museo de Historia Natural, el cual dirige, se haya convertido en el más visitado de Estados Unidos.|last=Semana|website=Cristián Samper, un biólogo colombiano, ha sido el responsable de que el Museo de Historia Natural, el cual dirige, se haya convertido en el más visitado de Estados Unidos.|date=20 March 2010 |access-date=2017-04-17}}

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Category:1965 births

Category:People from San José, Costa Rica

Category:Living people

Cristian

Category:Costa Rican people of Colombian descent

Category:University of Los Andes (Colombia) alumni

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Secretaries of the Smithsonian Institution

Category:Colombian emigrants to the United States

Category:Costa Rican biologists

Category:21st-century American biologists

Category:Smithsonian Institution people