Dr. Laurie Marker

Dr. Laurie Marker

Distinguished Alumna Award

Dr. Laurie Marker, founder and executive director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, is one of the world’s leading experts on the fastest land animal. After graduating from EOU’s distance education program in 1990, Laurie sold everything she owned to start CCF in Namibia, Africa. She went on to earn a doctorate from Oxford University in England and has since pioneered new ideas in conservation and formed cooperative alliances on behalf of the cheetah that had never been possible before. In 23 years, Laurie has led her organization from its humble beginnings in a tiny farmhouse to what it is today: an unparalleled model for predator conservation. Her many accolades include being named among Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” in 2000. More recently she received the 2010 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and was also a finalist for the BBC World Challenge.