Turkey's Recap Tayyip Erdogan

Recap Tayyip Erdogan became prime minister on March 14, 2003, replacing Abdullah Gül, who had occupied the office since November 2002. Before becoming primes minister Erdo?an was mayor of Istabul from 1994 to 1998. He was born on February 26, 1954, in Rize, Turkey. He studied management at Marmar University's faculty of economics and administrative sciences. He is married to Emine Erdogan.

 

The United Kingdom's Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown became prime minister on June 27, 2007, three days after becoming leader of the Labour Party. He was first elected to parliament in 1983 as representative for Dunfermline East. Since 2005 he has been the representative for Kikcaldy and Cowdenbeath in Scotland. Before entering politics he worked as a lecturer and journalist. He served as chancellor of the exchequer from 1997 to 2007 and he accompanied Prime Minister Tony Blair to G8 summits as finance minister. He was born in Govan, Scotland, on February 20, 1951. He studied history at the University of Edinburgh and completed his PhD in 1982. He is married to Sarah Brown.

The United States' Barack Obama

Barack Obama became president-elect on November 4, 2008, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2005. He worked as a community organizer, a civil rights lawyer and a state legislator for Illinois. The first black president, he was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Kenyan father and American mother. He received his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1983 and a law degree from Harvard University in 1991. He is married to Michelle Obama.

The European Commission's José Manuel Barroso

José Manuel Barroso became president on November 23, 2004. Prior to that he was prime minister of Portugal from 2002 to 2004. Before entering into politics he worked as an academic. He graduated law from the University of Lisbon and has a master's in economics and social sciences from the University of Geneva. He received his PhD from Georgetown University in 1998. He also received an honorary degree from Liverpool University in 2008. He is married to Maria Margarida Pinto Ribeiro de Sousa Uva.

The Czech Republic's Mirek Topolánek

Mirek Topolánek became prime minister in August 2006. He took over the presidency of the European Council on January 1, 2009. from France's Sarkozy. He will remain in the position until June 2009, when Sweden will take over. He was a member of the Czech Senate from 1996 to 2004 and its deputy chair from 2002 to 2004. Since June 2006 he has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies. Born in 1956, he studied at Brno University of Technology where he received a degree in mechanical engineering.

 

(G20 Research Group Report)