Person

Kutukdjian, Georges B.

• Kutukdjian, Georges

1942-

Georges B. Kutukdjian, a Lebanese national, was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1942. He pursued his higher education at the University of Paris, studying philosophy and social anthropology, earning the following degrees: license de sociologie; diplome d’études supérieures de philosophie; certificat de mathémathique; certificat de l’informatique. Kutukdjian was a Collaborateur with Professor Claude Levi-Strauss at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique of France from 1968 to 1971.

Kutukdjian began his career at UNESCO in 1972 as a Programme Specialist in the Division of Applied Social Sciences. In 1976, as the Sector was reorganized, he moved to the Division for the Study of Development. Kutukdjian was appointed Chief of the Evaluation and Coordination Unit, Office of the Assistant Director-General, Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications, in 1978. In 1985, he moved to become Programme Specialist in the Division of Human Rights and Peace. When the Bio-ethics Unit was created in 1992, Kutukdjian was appointed its Director. The Bio-Ethics Unit was moved to the Services attached to the Directorate in 1994. In 1999, the Unit was made the Division of Ethics of Science and Technology. Later that year, the Division was moved back to the Sector of Social and Human Sciences. Kutukdjian retired from UNESCO in 2001.

Beyond and complementary to his work at UNESCO, Kutudkjian held the following positions: President, UNESCO Staff Association, 1979-1982; Secretary-General of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC),1993-1997; Executive Secretary of the World Commission of the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), 1998-2001(?); Rapporteur of the IBC Drafting Group of the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data, 2003-2005; Member, Scientific Committee, International Bioethics Society; Adviser, French National Commission for UNESCO at the International Bioethics Committee, 2005; Vice-President and President of the Association of Former UNESCO Staff Members (AFUS), 2005-2010, as well as President of the AFUS History Club, 2005-2010. He was also recently one of the General Editors of the UNESCO World Report Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue (2010). Among other publications, he co-authored the book Rights of peoples (1991) and contributed to The Book: a world transformed (2001). Kutukdjian has taught seminars on diplomacy and international organizations (University of Paris-South) and in bioethics and biotechnologies (University of Versailles).

• Programme Specialist, Division of Applied Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities and Culture Sector, 1972?-1975?
• Programme Specialist, Division for the Study of Development, Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications, 1976?-1977?
• Chief, Coordination and Evaluation Unit, Office of the Assistant Director-General, Sector for Social Sciences and their Applications, 1978?-1983?
• Programme Specialist, Division of Human Rights and Peace, Sector of Social and Human Sciences, 1985?-1992
• Programme Specialist, Unit of Bio-Ethics, Sector of Social and Human Sciences, 1992-1993
• Director of Unit, Unit of Bio-Ethics, Sector of Social and Human Sciences, 1993-1994
• Director of Unit, Bio-Ethics Unit, Programmes Coordinated by ADG/DRG, 1994-1998
• Director of Unit, Division of Ethics of Science and Technology, Programmes Coordinated by ADG/DRG, 1998-1999
• Director, Division of Ethics of Science and Technology, Sector of Social and Human Sciences, 1999-2001

Name note: RAD Rules 22.1B and 22.2A1 instruct that if the authorized form of name is not clear from the published works, use name in Reference sources. Kutukdjian published under both Georges B. Kutukdjian and Georges Kutukdjian, however the UNESDOC authorized heading is Kutukdjian, Georges B.

Created 30/03/2012 by AWT.

• Association of Former UNESCO Staff Members. (2011). Club Histoire webpage. Accessed online 5/3/2012: http://www.afus-unesco.org/fr/commissions-et-clubs/club-histoire.
• Association of Former UNESCO Staff Members. History Club. (2006). L'UNESCO racontée par ses anciens. BFC.2006/WS/1. Paris : UNESCO. Accessed online in UNESDOC 5/3/2012: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001477/147747f.pdf
• International Society of Bioethics. (2011?). Georges B. Kutukdjian. Accessed online 5/3/2012: http://www.sibi.org/ingles/sib/doc/curr/gk.htm
• UNESCO. (2007). 60 ans d'histoire de l'UNESCO: actes du colloque international, Paris, 16-18 novembre 2005. ARC.07/WS/01. Paris : UNESCO. Accessed online in UNESDOC 5/3/2012: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001541/154122f.pdf#xml=http://www.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?database=&set=4F54D612_3_307&hits_rec=15&hits_lng=fre
• UNESCO. (1999). Streamlining of the services attached to the Director-General. 15 November 1999. DG/Note/99/3/KM. UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6: Secretariat Documents.
• UNESCO. (1998). Commission mondiale d’éthique des connaissances scientifiques et des technologies. 3 avril 1998. DG/Note/98/30. UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6: Secretariat Documents.
• UNESCO. (1992). Création d’une Unité de bioéthique. 24 novembre 1992. DG/Note/92/34. UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6: Secretariat Documents.
• UNESCO Archives, Archive Group 6: Secretariat Documents, Staff Lists.