Mar 30, 1938 in Ravensburg, Germany
EDUCATION: 1966: Doctorate in engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
1967: Doctorate in economics, University of Fribourg
1967: Master's in public administration, Harvard University
CAREER:
1963-66: Assistant to director-general, German Machinebuilding Association, Frankfurt
1967-70: Member of the management board, Sulzer Escher Wyss AG, Zurich
1971: Founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum
1998: Co-founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
2004: Founder, Forum of Young Global Leaders
2011: Founder, Global Shapers Community
HONORS:
2018: China Reform Friendship Medal
Associating the 'Davos Spirit' with China's rising economy
The World Economic Forum has been a key backer of China's efforts to re-engineer the global economic order to make it more open and multilateral, and able to better address concerns arising from resistance to globalization.
As its founder and executive chairman, Klaus Schwab has embraced China's firm belief that economic globalization has the potential to deliver wealth and welfare to people around the world.
The forum, he said, will continue to strengthen nations such as China that are striving to realize the shared dream of world peace, happiness, justice, equality and love triumphing over poverty.
Schwab, who was one of 10 foreign experts presented with a China Reform Friendship Medal at a gathering in Beijing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up on Tuesday, said such aspirations have shaped his efforts over the past five decades.
During that time, he has organized discussion forums that connected leading government figures, business stalwarts and policymakers, so they could consider major global issues of the day and brainstorm on solutions to global challenges.
Born in Ravensburg, Germany, in 1938, Schwab grew up in the tumultuous postwar reconstruction period. His father was managing director of a Swiss machinery company and led several industry associations, while Schwab became heavily involved in efforts to promote reconciliation between young people in Germany and France.
He moved to Zurich in 1957 to study mechanical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Between 1962 and 1967, he obtained a master's degree in public administration and doctorates in engineering and economics.
In January 1971, he organized the first European Management Symposium, the precursor of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, a picturesque town in Switzerland surrounded by Alpine peaks.
With close to 50 years of managing the forum, Schwab lives up to his reputation as a spokesman for the "Davos Spirit". For him, the spirit is "the concept of multistakeholder participation, collaboration and congenial exchange".
