Mohamed ElBaradei was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1942. He studied law before joining the Egyptian diplomatic service, where he worked on important talks between countries. In 1984, he joined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United Nations organisation that checks how countries use nuclear technology. In 1997, he became its Director General, a role he held for twelve years. During this time, he led international teams that checked whether countries such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea were building nuclear weapons, while also helping countries use nuclear technology safely, for example in hospitals to treat illnesses like cancer. In 2005, ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work preventing nuclear weapons from spreading around the world. After leaving the IAEA in 2009, he returned to Egypt and became involved in calls for political change. Throughout his career, ElBaradei has shown that patient, honest diplomacy can shape decisions that affect the whole world.

ElBaradei's greatest test came in 2002 and 2003, when his inspectors reported that they had found no evidence of an active nuclear weapons programme in Iraq. This was not the answer that some of the world's most powerful governments wanted to hear, and ElBaradei came under enormous pressure to change his findings. He held firm, showing fairness by treating every nation his agency inspected according to the same rigorous, unbiased standards, regardless of politics or pressure. This was not a comfortable position, and it took wisdom to judge, again and again, how to present unwelcome facts honestly while keeping channels of negotiation open with furious governments on all sides. His approach to leadership grew from this same instinct: rather than taking sides or issuing threats, he guided the IAEA and its many member states toward cooperation, trusting that shared, verified facts, applied fairly to everyone, would serve peace better than suspicion or force.

Years later, when Egypt's security forces violently broke up protest sit-ins, resulting in many deaths, ElBaradei was serving as the country's interim Vice President. He resigned from his post in protest rather than continue serving in a government responsible for that violence.