Margaret Chan
AGE: 59
OCCUPATION: Director General of the WHO
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0
PRO: As the world waits for the next influenza pandemic, it's comforting to know that its chief medical officer has had some experience dealing with lethal outbreaks of bird flu. She won praise for her gutsy handling of the first H5N1 flu outbreak in 1997.
CON: Will she be able to stand up to China, the country that nominated her and the same country that critics say is downplaying its avian flu crisis?