Prof. Muhammad Yunus
Prof. Muhammad Yunus
Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank, and of more than 50 companies in Bangladesh, each aiming at addressing a specific social problem. He is considered the father of microcredit and the concept of social business, which are now being implemented all around the world. Professor Muhammad Yunus is the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees from universities across 20 countries. He has received 112 awards from 26 countries including state honors from 10 countries. Professor Yunus was the 2006 recipient of the Nobel Peace prize together with Grameen Bank. Other notable awards include the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1984), World Food Prize (1994), International Simon Bolivar Prize (1996), Sydney Peace Prize (1998), and Seoul Peace Prize (2006). 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. For his constant innovation and enterprise, the Fortune Magazine named Professor Yunus in March 2012 as ‘one of the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time’.
Professor Yunus, known as “the banker to the poor”, pioneered the concept of microcredit and established Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In 2006, Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.” Professor Yunus has received many other national and international honors. He is the author of Banker to the Poor, Creating a World Without Poverty, and Building Social Business.
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He also proposed the model of social business, a business designed to meet a social goal. A social business is a business that pays no dividends. It sells products at prices that make it self-sustaining. The owners of the company can get back the amount they have invested in the company over a period of time, but no profit is paid to investors in the form of dividends. Instead, any profit made stays in the business – to finance expansion, to create new products or services, and to do more good for the world.