Published October 9, 2009, last updated on April 29, 2013
Nobel Peace Price winner Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker/economist and champion of the poor, will deliver the commencement address at Duke University on May 15, 2010, the school announced Friday.
Yunus is considered the father of microfinance, a concept he developed as an economics professor that provides loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 1983, he founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which helped poor people escape poverty by teaching them sound financial principles so they can help themselves and by providing loans on terms suitable to them.
In 2006, he and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”
“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,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement announcing the award. “Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea.”
In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama awarded Yunus the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.
Duke President Richard H. Brodhead said Duke is honored to have Yunus speak at next year’s commencement ceremony, which is held at Wallace Wade Stadium on the Duke campus and is open to the public.
“Recognizing that entrepreneurship is a fundamental human gift, Muhammad
Yunus has created a viable business model for the world’s poor, using his academic training to unleash human potential around the globe,” Brodhead said. “He will give our graduates an inspiring example of education’s far-reaching power.”
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