Biography - Muhammad Yunnus, Tony Blair, Jack Welch

Name: Muhammad Yunnus

Born: 28^th June 1040

Place of Birth: Buthua, Hathazari, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Situation: Muhammad Yunnus was born the third of fourteen children into very poor surroundings. His father was a goldsmith and his mother was a homemaker. His mother, Fufia Hhatun was his biggest influence in Dr. Yunnus life work of eradication of poverty. He spent his childhood in his village of birth until in 1947, his father moved his business to the main business district in Chittagong.

Education was always highly important to Dr. Yunus, largely due to his father’s extreme emphasis on education. He graduated from Chittagong University as an economist and went all the way to obtaining a PHd qualification in economics. He then went on to teach economics at the university of Chitagong in Bangladesh.

“In 1974, Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist from Chittagong University, led his students on a field trip to a poor village. They interviewed a woman who made bamboo stools, and learnt that she had to borrow the equivalent of 15p to buy raw bamboo for each stool made. After repaying the middleman, sometimes at rates as high as 10% a week, she was left with a penny profit margin. Had she been able to borrow at more advantageous rates, she would have been able to amass an economic cushion and raise herself above subsistence level.” (Muhammad yunus.org”

This was the realization Dr. Yunus had been hoping for in achieving his vision of a poverty free world. As a result of this he rejected his economic teachings and claimed he could no longer connect to the “fancy” economics he was teaching.

He decided to take matters into his own hands and began his solution of micro – vredit by personally funding the first loans to the very poor. Against all professional advise, Dr. Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in 1983. A bank devoted to providing low interest bearing loans to the very poor. Today The Grameen bank has 1,084 branches, with 12,500 staff serving 2.1 million borrowers in 37,000 villages. On any working day Grameen collects an average of $1.5 million in weekly installments

Jack Welch, outgoing president, General Electric

Name: Jack Welch

Born: 1935

Place of Birth: Salem Massachusetts USA

Jack Welch’s claim to fame is a considerable one. During his 20 years of leadership of the company giant General Electric, Welch turn the slow performing giant into one of the most competitive companies in the world. During his years of leadership, Welch increased the value of GE from 13 billion dollars to several hundred billion.

Welch’s education was a very thorough one. He graduated as a Chemical Engineer from the University of Massachusetts and later went on to receive his Ph.D qualification in Chemical Engineering.

Soon after graduating, Welch became a chemical engineer working for GE. He worked hard and climbed the ranks fast, becoming the youngest and eith CEO of GE.

Welch’s hard, rutheless but yet very fair leadership style became legendary in corporate America. He turned the highly bearocratic GE into an innovative industry leader by abolishing all bearocracy from the company. Because of his leadership style, GE saw incredible growth from 1981 to 2001.

There is no denying Welch’s exceptional leadership skills both turned GE around and are also admired by business today.

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair...

Name: Tony Blair

Born: 6 May 1953

Place of Birth: Edinburgh

Tony Blair was born into very comfortable surroundings. He was the son of a Barrister and University lecturer. He spent his childhood in Duhram and went on to graduate from Oxford university, becoming a barrister himself.

Mr. Blair began his political career by winning a the seat of Sedgefeild in 1983. Mr. Blair then moved quite quickly through the ranks being first promoted to the shadow treasury front bench in 1984. He then served as a trades and industry spokesman before being elected to the shadow cabinet in 1988 where he gained the position of shadow secretary of state for energy.

He then one leadership of the labor party in 1992. He then was promoted to shadow home secretary. It was in this position Mr. Blair made his famous claim the labor would be tough on crime and tough on causes of crime.

John Smith died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1994, and in the subsequent leadership contest Tony Blair won a large majority of his party's support.

The labor party won power in 1997 and Tony Blair became the youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool 1812, at age 43. Tony Blair went on to be re-elected in 2001 and still is currently England’s prime minister.

The son of a barrister and lecturer, Tony Blair was born in Edinburgh, but spent most of his childhood in Durham. At the age of 14 he returned to Edinburgh to finish his education at Fettes College. He studied law at Oxford, and went on to become a barrister himself.

After standing unsuccessfully for the Labour Party in a by-election, Mr Blair went on to win the seat of Sedgefield in the 1983 General Election, aged 30.

Tony Blair made a speedy rise through the ranks, being promoted first to the shadow Treasury front bench in 1984. He subsequently served as a trade and industry spokesman, before being elected to the Shadow Cabinet in 1988 where he was made Shadow Secretary of State for Energy. In 1989 he moved to the employment brief.

After the 1992 election Labour's new leader, John Smith, promoted Blair to Shadow Home Secretary. It was in this post that Mr Blair made famous his pledge that Labour would be tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.

John Smith died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1994, and in the subsequent leadership contest Tony Blair won a large majority of his party's support.

Blair immediately launched his campaign for the modernisation of the Labour Party, determined to complete the shift further towards the political centre which he saw as essential for victory. The debate over Clause 4 of the party's constitution was considered the crucial test of whether its members would commit to Mr Blair's project. He removed the commitment to public ownership, and at this time coined the term New Labour.

The Labour Party won the 1997 General Election by a landslide, after 18 years in Opposition. At the age of 43 , Tony Blair became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.

The government began to implement a far-reaching programme of constitutional change, putting the question of devolution to referendums in Scotland and Wales.

An elected post of Mayor of London was established at the head of a new capital-wide authority, and all but 92 hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords in the first stage of its reform. The government has also implemented an investment programme of £42 billion in its priority areas of health and education.

Tony Blair was re-elected with another landslide majority in the 2001 General Election.

His second term was dominated by foreign policy issues - notably the 'war on terror' which followed the September 11 attacks in New York, and the war in Iraq.

The Labour Party went on to win a third term for Mr Blair in May 2005, albeit with a reduced majority.

Outside Number 10 on the day after his victory, the PM said that 'respect' would play a big part in his third term agenda.

He said he wanted to bring back:

"A proper sense of respect in our schools, in our communities, in our towns and our villages."

Mr Blair is married to the barrister Cherie Booth QC, and they have four children. Their youngest, Leo, was the first child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years.

Reference List

WWW.muhammadyunus.com

http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/jack-welch.htm

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page4.asp