Jan Egeland was born on September 12, 1957 in Stavanger, Norway. He was the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from June 2003 to December 2006. Egeland was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and succeeded Kenzo Oshima. He traveled extensively, drawing attention to humanitarian emergencies. Egeland took up the position as director of the Norwegian Institute …

Jamie Dimon — James L. “Jamie” Dimon (born March 13, 1956) is the current CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co as well as a Class A director of the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve, a three year term which started January 2007. Dimon was named to Time Magazine’s 2006, 2008 and 2009 lists of …

James Madison grew up on a plantation called Montpelier in Virginia. This would eventually become his home. He studied under an influential tutor named Donald Robertson and then the Reverend Thomas Martin. He attended the College of New Jersey which would become Princeton, graduating in two years. He was an excellent student and studied subjects ranging from Latin to geography …

Jai Prakash Dabral — Environmentalist Jai Prakash Dabral waged one of the biggest environmental battles at ground zero by motivating people in Tadkeshwar at Rudraprayag to start a Chipko-style campaign which he called the Raksha Sutra. But Dabral knew that the villager’s peaceful protest would only provide for a temporary solution. And therefore he decided to move Supreme Court and …

Jahangir (20 September 1569 – 8 November 1627) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian, meaning “Conqueror of the World”. Nur-ud-din or Nur al-Din is an Arabic name which means “Light of the Faith.” Born as Prince Muhammad Salim, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Mogul …

Jacques Rossouw — As far as medical research was concerned, males were forever the default sex and women little more than a footnote. Long-term studies of health issues usually excluded women as too hormonally variable, so their medical care tended to be based on hunches rather than science. The most famous one went like this: estrogen cures hot flashes, so …

Jacques Kallis — Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swing bowler. He is one of the greatest cricketers of all time, particularly all-rounders, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 10,000 runs and 250 wickets in …

J.J. Abrams — Jeffrey Jacob ‘J. J.’ Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer, best known for his work in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity (1998–2002). He also created Alias (2001–2006) and co-created Lost (2004–2010), …

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian physiologist, psychologist, and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904 for research pertaining to the digestive system. Pavlov is widely known for first describing the phenomenon of classical conditioning. Pavlov contributed to many areas of physiology and neurology. Most of his work involved research in temperament, conditioning and …

Ismail Haniya — Ismail Haniyeh is a senior political leader of Hamas and one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Haniyeh was born in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on January 29, 1963, after his parents fled their homes in Majdal (currently Ashkelon, Israel) during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1987, he graduated …