Nancy Brinker
Nancy Brinker
Founder of the Susan G. Komen Foundation

Nancy G. Brinker is the founder and Chair of Global Strategy of Susan G. Komen, an organization named after her only sister, Susan, who died from breast cancer in 1980 at age 36. Nancy has served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2001 to 2003 and Chief of Protocol of the United States from 2007 to the end of the George W. Bush administration. Brinker, a breast cancer survivor, uses her experience to heighten understanding of the disease. She speaks publicly on the importance of patient's rights and medical advancements in breast cancer research and treatment. She is currently serving as the World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control.  Nancy is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Promise Me - How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer, released on September 14, 2010. Nancy has helped build Komen by fostering a coalition of relationships within the business community, government, and volunteer sectors in the United States. For her work on breast cancer research, Time Magazine named Nancy in its 2008 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Calling her "a catalyst to ease suffering in the world," President Barack Obama honored Nancy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, on August 12, 2009.