Guests
A diversity of intellects – we are grateful to welcome the following guests at 'Challenge the Best' 2010:
Swiss Entrepreneur
Mr. Ulrich Bremi
Mr. Ulrich Bremi, former President of the National Council of Switzerland, has influenced both the political and entrepreneurial landscape significantly during the most recent decades. During 16 years he represented the Liberal Democrats in the National Council and has taken part in shaping Switzerland as we know it today. It is however the combination of both his political and entrepreneurial experience which makes him such a valuable personality for 'Challenge the Best'. He has been the Director of the Board of one of the most outstanding german-language newspapers (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) as well as global corporations such as Swiss Re. [Read more here.]
Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry
Prof. Dr. Richard Ernst
Prof. Dr. Richard Ernst was awarded Nobel laureate in Chemistry for "his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy" which revolutionized biomedical treatments. He worked as a research scientist in close connection with the Stanford University, Paolo Alto, California, before committing himself to teach at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich , Switzerland. He is member of the US National Academy of Science and the Royal Academy of Science, London and joins the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. Besides his significant achievements on the academic arena, Prof. Dr. Ernst is especially know for his broad interest in societal questions and challenges of today, making him an invaluable guest for 'Challenge the Best'.
[Read more here.]
World Food Prize Winner
Dr. Hans R. Herren
Hans R. Herren is a international renowned development expert who currently is the President of the Millennium Institute in Washington D.C. His work to avert a food crisis in sub-saharan Africa in the 1980's awarded him the World Food Prize in 1995. He later on also received the 2002 Brandenberger Award and in 2003 the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. Recently he co-chaired the IAASTD World Agriculture Report which among others aims to assess the impacts of agricultural science and technology on equitable, socially, and economically sustainable development. Through his work at the Millennium Institute Dr. Herren is pursuing ways to resolve the world's energy and environmental issues through improving policies.
[Read more here.]
Director of the Grantham Institute
Prof. Sir Brian Hoskins
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins is a Royal Society Research Professor and member of the new UK Committee on Climate Change and is recognised as one of the world's leading weather and climate scientists. He shares his time between the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London and Reading University, where he is Professor of Meteorology and was a head of department for six years. He recently contributied to the Stern review, the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and was a member of the Nobel prize winning team on international climate change assessment.
[Read more here.]
Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics
Prof. Eric Maskin
Professor Eric Stark Maskin is an American economist who was awarded the Noble Prize for Economics in 2007 "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory", a specialized form of game theory . Maskin's work has had a deep influence in many areas of economics, political science and law. Economics Professor Pesendorfer, LSE, says Professor Maskin's contribution boils down to asking: "Under what conditions can people be given incentives so that the outcome is guaranteed to meet a given societal objective, despite the fact that individuals act in their own interest?". Prof. Maskin is currently the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, New Jersey, USA, focussing the analysis of societies and social change and a visiting lecturer with the rank of Professor at Princeton University and has among others been teaching at M.I.T. and Harvard. [Read more here.]