Saturday, November 28, 2020

Who is Klaus Schwab?


Klaus Martin Schwab (German pronunciation: [klaʊs ˈmaʁtiːn ʃvaːp]; born 30 March 1938) is a German engineer and economist best known as the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.[1] His wife and first collaborator,[2][3] Hilde, co-founded the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship with him.

Klaus Schwab


Klaus Schwab at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2008.


Born 30 March 1938 (age 82)

Ravensburg, Germany

Education

ETH Zürich (PhD)
University of Fribourg (PhD)
Harvard University (MPA)
Occupation Founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum

Spouse(s)
Hilde Schwab
​(m. 1971)​
Children 2

Life

Education

Schwab holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Fribourg[4], a doctorate in Engineering from the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)[5] and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University[6]. Before pursuing his doctorates, he graduated as an engineer from the ETH Zurich, and as an economist from the University of Fribourg.[citation needed].

Additionally, he has been the recipient of 17 honorary doctorates[7], including from the London School of Economics[8], the National University of Singapore[9], KAIST[10], and over a dozen other universities, from Kaunas to Haifa to Bangkok.[11][12][13]. He is also an honorary professor of the University of Geneva, the Ben-Gurion University of Israel[14] and the China Foreign Affairs University.[15]

He obtained his "Abitur" or high school diploma from the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Ravensburg, Germany.[citation needed]

Professional life

Schwab was professor of business policy at the University of Geneva from 1972 to 2003, and since then, has been an Honorary Professor there.[16] Since 1979, he has published the Global Competitiveness Report, an annual report assessing the potential for increasing productivity and economic growth of countries around the world, written by a team of economists.[17] The report is based on a methodology developed by Schwab, measuring competitiveness not only in terms of productivity but also based on sustainability criteria.[18]

He has authored and co-authored several books, including The Fourth Industrial Revolution (2016)[19], Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution (2018, with Nicholas Davis)[20], COVID-19: The Great Reset (2020, with Thierry Malleret), [21] and Stakeholder Capitalism (to appear in 2021, with Peter Vanham)[22].

Foundations

In 1971, Schwab founded the European Management Forum,[23] which in 1987 became the World Economic Forum, as a not-for-profit foundation committed to improving the state of the world. He founded the WEF in 1971, the same year in which he published Moderne Unternehmensführung im Maschinenbau[24] (Modern Enterprise Management in Mechanical Engineering). In that book, he argued that the management of a modern enterprise must serve not only shareholders but all stakeholders (die Interessenten), to achieve long-term growth and prosperity. Schwab has championed the multistakeholder concept since the WEF’s inception. In 2015, the WEF was formally recognised by the Swiss Government as an "international body"[25]. Under Schwab's management, the WEF has been keen to promote its image as a driver for reconciliation efforts in different parts of the world, acting as a catalyst of numerous collaborations and international initiatives.

In 1998, Schwab and his wife founded the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, another NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 2004, Schwab created a new foundation using the US$1 million prize money from the Dan David Prize he received that year from Israel. The Forum of Young Global Leaders[26] aims to create a dynamic global community of exceptional people (under 40) with the vision, courage and influence to drive positive change in the world.

In 2011, he founded the Global Shapers Community, a global network of local communities, or "hubs", of young people aged 20 to 30 who are exceptional in their potential, achievements and drive to make a contribute to their communities. As of 9 June 2020, there are 421 Hubs with 9,731 Shapers.[27]

Other activities

From 1993-1995, Schwab was a member of the UN High-Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development.[28] From 1996-1998, he was Vice-Chairman of the UN Committee for Development Planning.[29] He also exercised a number of other functions, such as being a member of the Peres Centre for Peace[30] and a member of the board of the Lucerne Festival.[31] During the earlier years of his career, he was on a number of company boards, such as The Swatch Group, The Daily Mail Group, and Vontobel Holding. He is a former member of the steering committee of the Bilderberg Group.[32]

He was knighted by Queen Elisabeth (Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, 2006), received the Knight Commanders Cross of Germany (2012) and the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun of Japan (2013)[33]. He is a Knight of the Légion d'Honneur of France (1997), received the Candlelight Award from then U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (New York, 2001)[34] and received the China Reform Friendship Medal (2018).[35]


Source: Wikipedia


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