Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is the father of microcredit, the father of social business, the founder of Grameen Bank, and of more than 50 other companies in Bangladesh. For his constant innovation and enterprise, Fortune Magazine hailed him in March 2012 as “one of 12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time.” Professor Yunus was born in Bangladesh in 1940. In 1965, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study Economics at Vanderbilt University and earned his Ph.D. in Economics in 1969.
Professor Yunus returned to Bangladesh in 1972 and joined the Department of Economics, University of Chittagong, as its Chairman. In 1976, Professor Yunus started to experiment with providing collateral free loans to the poor. This led to creation of Grameen Bank in 1983. Today, Grameen Bank has over 8.6 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women and disburses over one and a half billion US dollars each year. In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Professor Yunus’ concept of social business is spreading in all continents. Social Business is a non-dividend company to solve human problems. It is being applied by individuals as well as large multi-nationals. Professor Yunus dreams of a world without poverty and without unemployment.
Professor Yunus is the author of several books and the recipient of over 50 honorary degrees from universities across 20 countries. He has received 112 awards from 26 countries including state honors from 10 countries. He is one of seven individuals to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom and the United States Congressional Gold Medal.
