Muhammad Yunus (economist)

Muhammad Yunus
Yunus at a University of Salford event (May 2013)
Born	(1940-06-28) 28 June 1940 (age 77) Chittagong, Bengal Presidency, British India
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Institution	University of Chittagong Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Middle Tennessee State University Glasgow Caledonian University
Field	Microcredit theory Development economics
School or tradition	Microcredit
Alma mater	University of Dhaka Vanderbilt University
Contributions	Grameen Bank Microcredit
Awards	Ramon Magsaysay Award (1984) Independence Day Award (1987)  Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1989) World Food Prize (1994) Pfeffer Peace Prize (1994) Gandhi Peace Prize (2000) Volvo Environment Prize (2003) Nobel Peace Prize (2006) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009) Congressional Gold Medal (2010)
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Muhammad Yunus (Bengali: মুহাম্মদ ইউনূস; born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 2006, Yunus and the Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that "lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty" and that "across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development". Yunus has received several other national and international honours. He received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.

In 2008, he was rated number 2 in Foreign Policy magazine's list of the 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'.

In February 2011, Yunus together with Saskia Bruysten, Sophie Eisenmann and Hans Reitz co-founded Yunus Social Business – Global Initiatives (YSB). YSB creates and empowers social businesses to address and solve social problems around the world. As the international implementation arm for Yunus' vision of a new, humane capitalism, YSB manages incubator funds for social businesses in developing countries and provides advisory services to companies, governments, foundations and NGOs.

In 2012, he became Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. He is a member of the advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Previously, he was a professor of economics at Chittagong University in Bangladesh. He published several books related to his finance work. He is a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation, which support microcredit.