WFDSA World Congress XIII

Professor Muhammad Yunus is the founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank which currently operates 1,781 branches providing credit to 5.6 million poor people residing in 60,815 villages in Bangladesh. He originated the concept of Grameen Bank, i.e. banking without collateral for the poorest of the poor.

Professor Yunus studied economics in the Vanderbilt University, USA and received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1970. He taught economics in the Middle Tennessee University from 1969 to 1972. Returning to Bangladesh in 1972, he joined the University of Chittagong as Head of the Economics Department. He started the Grameen Bank Project in 1976. It was transformed into a formal bank in 1983. The Grameen Bank offers small loans for self employment for the rural poor, especially poor women.

Within Bangladesh, he received the President's Award (1978); Central Bank Award (1985); and Independence Day Award (1987), the highest national award. He was the first chair of the Policy Advisory Group of CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest). He has been appointed as an International Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS by the United Nations. He has been inducted as a member of the Legion d'Honneur by President Chirac of France.

Professor Yunus has received honorary doctorate degrees from the following universities:

University of East Anglia, U.K. (1992)
Oberlin College, U.S.A. (1993)
University of Toronto, Canada (1995)
Haverford College, U.S.A. (1996)
Warwick University, U.K. (1996)
Saint Xaviers' University, U.S.A. (1997)
University of the South, U.S.A. (1998)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (1998)
Yale University, U.S.A. (1998)
Brigham Young University, U.S.A. (1998)
University of Sydney, Australia (1998)
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (2000)
University of Turin, Italy (2000)
Colgate University, Hamilton, U.S.A. (2002),
University Catholique of Louvain, Belgium (2003)
Universitad Nacional De Cuyo, Argentina (2003)
University of Natal, South Africa (2003)
Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswayvidyalaya, India (2004)
Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (2004)
University of Florence, Italy (2004)
University of Bologna, Italy (2004)
University of Complutense, Spain (2004)

Professor Yunus also serves on the boards of many national and international organizations. Besides Grameen Bank he has created a number of companies in Bangladesh to address diverse issues of poverty and development. Among the companies are: Grameen Phone (a mobile telephone company)

Grameen Cybernet (Internet Service Provider)
Grameen Communications (Rural Internet Service Provider)
Grameen Software company
Grameen Information Technology Park
Grameen Fund (Social Venture Capital Company)
Grameen Capital Management company
Grameen Textile company
Grameen Knitwear company
Grameen Renewable Energy company
Grameen Health company
Grameen Education company
Grameen Agriculture company
Grameen Fisheries and Livestock company
Grameen Business Promotion company

Professor Yunus will deliver the Keynote Address on Friday, 10 October 2008