Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated economist and Africa's first democratically elected female president, shares the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with Leymah Gbowee, also of Liberia, and Tawakkul Karman, of Yemen.  The Norwegian Nobel Committee acknowledged the three "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work" and expressed the hope that the prize will help "bring an end to the suppression of women... and to realise the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent."

President Johnson Sirleaf is the aunt of Estrada Bernard, MD, who left UNC in 2005 for a private practice position with Anchorage Neurosurgical Associates in Anchorage, Alaska.