Born in Chittagong, Bangladesh in 1940. Dr. Yunus received his Ph.D in Economics, Vanderbilt University, U.S.A. in 1970 and returned to Bangladesh in 1972 to become Head of the Department of Economics, Chittagong University, Bangladesh. In 1974, witnessing the poor suffering from the devastating famine in the country, he started working on activities to eradicate poverty. In 1983, he established Grameen Bank, which provides unsecured microloans (microcredit) to the poor. Under Dr. Yunus's core philosophy of Grameen Bank, "a credit system for the poor requires neither mortgages nor collateral" the bank supported the independence of the poor in rural areas and provided small loans to the self-employed, particularly to poor women, making a significant contribution to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh. In recognition of his achievements, Dr. Yunus received the Grand Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize 2001 (12th) (Japan) and the Nobel Peace Prize (Norway) in 2006 (with Grameen Bank). In addition, he has received more than 100 awards from around the world, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Philippines) known as the "Nobel Prize of Asia", Presidential Medal of Freedom (U.S.A.), U.S. Congressional Gold Medal (U.S.A.), World Food Prize (U.S.A.), Nikkei Asia Prize (Japan), and more than 40 honorable titles (honorary doctorates, etc.) from universities around the world. Eradicating poverty by using business methods, Dr. Yunus runs more than 50 Grameen group companies (the Grameen Family) to solve a lot of social issues in areas such as education, medical care, energy, information and communications. He develops and promotes social businesses in Bangladesh, by stimulating local industries, spreading communications technologies, and using renewable energy. He also engages in social business on a daily basis in partnership with the United Nations, multinational corporations, and universities around the world. |
*Mr. Shiiki's photo courtesy by Fukuoka Keizai, Vol. 210, February 2006 |
Born in Yukuhashi City, Fukuoka Prefecture in 1928, Mr.Shiiki founded Sanyo Shoji Co., Ltd. in Kokura City (currently Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyushu City), Fukuoka Prefecture in October 1959. In June 1972, he changed the company name to Sanyo Shinpan Co., Ltd., and served as its president and chairman. In addition to the company's business activities, he continued to support classical music by holding free classical concerts once a month in the lobby of the headquarters building, featuring mainly chamber music performed by members of the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra (offering other support to them as well), and inviting parents and children to offer "Shiiki Seats" at Music Festival Argerich's Meeting Point in Beppu. When he was in his twenties, his life was saved by a newly developed medical technology, so he also contributed to Kyushu University Hospital, Japanese Red Cross Fukuoka Hospital, and others for the development of medical technology. Targeting Asian students, he funded "Shiiki Masakazu Memorial Scholarship for Asian Student" to further contribution to the local community. Mr. Shiiki knew of and respected Dr. Yunus and his activities even before he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was an eager proponent of Kyushu University's agreement with Dr. Yunus's Grameen Group to study and promote Yunus social business, and donated funds to support it. This led to the establishment of Yunus & Shiiki Social Business Research Center (SBRC), the first social business research center in Japan. SBRC would like to express our deepest gratitude to Mr. Shiiki for his outstanding contributions to the activities of Dr. Yunus and Kyushu University. |