Muhammad Yunus is the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and is known
worldwide as the “Father of Microcredit” and “Banker to the Poor”. Prof. Yunus is
one of ...
Prof. Muhammad Yunus 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Father of Microcredit Prof. Muhammad Yunus is the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and is known worldwide as the “Father of Microcredit” and “Banker to the Poor”. Prof. Yunus is one of seven people in the world to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. He is also the recipient of hundreds of national and international awards. Muhammad Yunus’s vision is the total eradication of poverty from the world. Muhammad Yunus (pronounced Muhammôd Iunus) is a Bangladeshi banker and economist. He previously was a professor of economics and is famous for his successful application of microcredit – the extension of small loans. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Muhammad Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development. In the prize announcement The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated: “Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other countries.” Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea. From modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank, developed micro-credit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Muhammad Yunus was the first Bangladeshi to ever get a Nobel Prize. After receiving the news of the important award, Yunus announced that he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award money to create a company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor; while the rest would go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh. The April 9, 2012 issue of Fortune Magazine featured Prof. Yunus as one of the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time. Professor Yunus was chosen by the Wharton School of Business for PBS documentary, as one of The 25 Most Influential Business Persons of the Past 25 Years. In 2006, Time magazine listed him under “60 years of Asian Heroes” as one of the top 12 business leaders. Dr. Yunus is the author of three books: “Banker to the Poor,” “Creating a World Without Poverty” and “Social Business: A New Kind of Capitalism.”
