Are you an expert on an intergovernmental organization (a UN agency, a regional IO, another one) and its executive head(s)? IO BIO is looking for experts willing to write an entry.

The IO BIO Project is constructing a biographical dictionary with short biographies of Secretaries-General (SGs), or other executive heads with different titles, of International Organizations (IOs). The biographical literature on SGs is limited, giving an incomplete picture of the variety of people who have held these positions and the interactions between them. IO BIO has a set of 30 initial biographies in place on the website (www.ru.nl/fm/iobio) and is continually adding more. Eventually it is planned to publish the Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations as a reference volume.

IO BIO focuses on those SGs of intergovernmental organizations who have left a mark for any reason, whether good, bad or unusual. IO BIO includes deceased SGs and those who have been out of office for five years or more and most probably will not return to office as SG.

The short biographies (between 800 and 3,600 words; the length is determined by level of importance, with three category levels) present an accurate and coherent description of the entire life and career of each SG. Entries provide biographical data, a balanced account of life and work, as well as references and a picture. To allow for group analyses (another IO BIO objective) authors are encouraged to pay attention to the social and professional connections of SGs.

Scholars and practitioners are carrying out the IO BIO Project on a voluntary basis. More information and its Instructions for Authors, Model Biography, Tools to Find More Data and Databases 1 and 2 (respectively Persons and Entries, and IGOs and their SGs: now covering the heads of some 130 intergovernmental organizations) are available at the website.

To express an interest, or for more information, please contact us by e-mail: iobio@fm.ru.nl. When applying to write an entry, please provide name, institutional affiliation, and contact information, and provide the arguments for why you are a good author for this entry.