Biography of Dr. Muhammad Yunus:
Born: June 28, 1940 Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi Nobel Prize-winning banker and economist. He is a teacher in the Department of Economics at Chittagong University. He is the promoter of the concept of microfinance. Professor Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He was the first Bangladeshi to receive this award. Yunus has received other national and international awards, including the World Food Prize.
#Family
Muhammad Yunus was born on June 28, 1940, in Bathua village, Hathazari upazila, Chittagong district. His father's name was Haji Dula Mia Sawdagar, and his mother's name was Sufia Khatun. Muhammad Yunus's wife is Dr. Afrozi Yunus. In personal life, Muhammad Yunus is the father of two daughters. Muhammad Yunus's brother Muhammad Ibrahim is a professor in the Department of Physics at Dhaka University and his younger brother Muhammad Jahangir is a popular TV personality.
Education
His first school was Mahajan Fakir's School. Muhammad Yunus ranked 16th in the merit list in the matriculation examination from Chittagong Collegiate School and was admitted to Chittagong College. There he associated himself with cultural and political activities. In college, he acted in plays and won the first prize. He was also involved in editing literary magazines and writing columns in Azadi newspapers. While studying in the seventh grade, he joined the Boy Scouts and traveled to various countries in Asia and Europe, including the United States, Canada, and the United States at the age of 15, on behalf of the Boy Scouts.
#Career
In 1957, Muhammad Yunus was admitted to the University of Dhaka in the honors class of the Department of Economics and completed his BA and MA from there. After that, he joined the Bureau of Economics as a research assistant. Later, he joined Chittagong College as a lecturer in 1962. In 1965, he went to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship and received a PhD in Economics from Vanderbilt University, USA, on a full scholarship in 1969. Before returning to Bangladesh, Yunus taught at Middle Tennessee State University from 1969 to 1972. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Muhammad Yunus was engaged in organizational work to build public opinion abroad for Bangladesh and provide support to the freedom fighters. After returning to the country in 1972, he joined the Department of Economics at Chittagong University as an associate professor and served as the head of the department. He was promoted to the rank of professor in 1975 and served in this position until 1989. Yunus began his struggle against poverty during the famine that struck Bangladesh in 1974. He realized that small amounts of credit could be very effective in improving the quality of life of the poor. During that time, he launched a rural economic project for research purposes. In 1974, Muhammad Yunus founded Tebhaga Farm, which the government acquired under the package program. Founding of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1976 to provide credit to poor Bangladeshis. Since then, Grameen Bank has disbursed $5.1 billion in loans to 5.3 million borrowers. To ensure repayment of loans, Grameen Bank uses the "sanghati dal" method. A small informal group applies for loans together, and its members act as guarantors for each other and help each other develop. As the bank's reach grew, the bank also implemented other methods to protect the poor. Microfinance was supplemented by other banking systems, including housing loans, fish farms, and irrigation loan schemes. Grameen Bank's success in economic development of the poor inspired other industrialized countries, including the developed world, to adopt the Grameen model.
Published Books
Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and The battle against World Poverty. (1998) Three Farmers of Jobra; Department of Economics, Chittagong University; (1974)
#Honors
Dr. Yunus has received 48 honorary doctorate degrees from universities around the world. Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank Dr. Muhammad Yunus has received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the United States. The US government has awarded Yunus this honor in recognition of his contribution to the fight against poverty, making him the first Bangladeshi and Muslim to receive this medal. Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at a conference of more than 200 of the world's richest people.
The honor was presented at the United Nations Building on Wednesday, May 5, 2013. This gathering of the world's richest people at the United Nations was organized by the world-famous Forbes magazine. Yunus was awarded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ as a social entrepreneur.
Awards
President’s Award. (1978)
Ramon Magsaysay Award. (1984)
Central Bank Award. (1985)
Independence Award (1987)
Aga Khan Award. (1989)
CARE Award. (1993)
Nobel Prize (Peace). (2006)
Humanitarian Award, USA. (1993)
Muhammad Sahebuddin Science (Socioeconomics) Award, Sri Lanka (1993)
Real Admiral M. A. Khan Memorial Medal, Bangladesh (1993)
World Food Prize
