 Dr. Muhammad Yunus
Dr. Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank which along with Dr. Yunus were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."
When the Liberation War of Bangladesh started in 1971 Yunus joined in the activities of raising support for the liberation war. With other Bangladeshis living in the United States, he founded the Bangladesh League of America . He also published the Bangladesh Newsletter from his home in Nashville.
After Bangladesh won the war of independence on December, 16, 1971, Yunus decided to move back to participate in the work of nation building. On his return he was appointed to the government's Planning Commission headed by Nurul Islam. He found the job boring and resigned to join Chittagong University as head of the Economics department .
Yunus first got involved in fighting poverty after observing the disastrous effects of the famine of 1974. During this time, he established a rural economic program as a research project. In 1975, he developed a Nabajug (New Era) Tebhaga Khamar (three share farm) which the government adopted as the Packaged Input Programme.[2] In order to make the project more effective, Yunus and his associates proposed another project called 'Gram Sarkar' (the village government). The government adopted it in 1980, but the succeeding regime ended it.
 In 1976 during his visits to the poorest households in village of Jobra near the university he discovered that very small loans could make a disproportionate difference to a poor person. His first loan consisted of US$27 from his own pocket, which he lent to 42 women in the village of Jobra — near Chittagong University — who made bamboo furniture. They had to take out usurious loans in order to buy bamboo. They then sold these items to the moneylenders to repay them. With a net profit of .50 Bangladeshi taka (.02 USD), the women were unable to support their families. He quickly realized that an institution needed to be created to lend to those who had nothing. [7] However, traditional banks were not interested in making tiny loans at more reasonable interest rates to poor people, who were considered repayment risks.
In December of 1976 Yunus finally succeeded in securing a loan from the government Janata Bank to lend it to the poor in Jobra. The institution continued to operate by securing loans from other banks for its projects. By 1982, the bank had 28,000 members.
On October 1, 1983 the pilot project began operations as a full-fledged bank and was renamed the Grameen Bank (Grameen means "of rural area", "of village") to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. The Grameen Bank has issued more than US$ 6 billion to 7 million borrowers. To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of "solidarity groups". These small informal groups apply together for loans and its members act as co-guarantors of repayment and support one another's efforts at economic self-advancement.[9] As it has grown, the Grameen Bank has also developed other systems of alternate credit that serve the poor. In addition to microcredit, it offers education loans and housing loans as well as financing for fisheries and irrigation projects, venture capital, textiles, and other activities, along with other banking services such as savings.
 The success of the Grameen model has inspired similar efforts throughout the developing world and even in industrialized nations, including the United States. The Grameen model of micro financing has been emulated in 23 countries. Many, but not all, microcredit projects also retain its emphasis on lending specifically to women. More than 96% of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to their families.[10] For his work with the Grameen Bank, Yunus was named an Ashoka: Innovators for the Public Global Academy Member in 2001
Awards:
1978 — President's Award, Bangladesh
1984 — Ramon Magsaysay Award, Philippines
1985 — Bangladesh Bank Award, Bangladesh
1987 — Shwadhinota Dibosh Puroshkar (Independence Day Award), Bangladesh
1989 — Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Switzerland 1993 — CARE Humanitarian Award
1994 — Winner of the World Food Prize
1995 — Winner of the Max Schmidheiny Freedom Prize
1996 — Winner of the UNESCO Simón Bolívar Prize
1997 — Received award from Strømme Foundation,[16] Norway
1998 — Received Indira Gandhi Prize
1998 — Received Prince of Asturias Award
1998 — Winner of the Sydney Peace Prize 2001 — Named Ashoka Global Academy Member
2001 - Received Fukuoka Asia Culture Prize (Grand Prize) [17]
2004 — Winner of The Economist newspaper's Prize for social and economic innovation.
2006 — Mother Teresa Award instituted by the Mother Teresa International and Millennium Award Committee (MTIMAC), Kolkata, India.
2006 - "Freedom from want" Award, one of the Four Freedom Awards; Roosevelt Study Centre.
2006 — 8th Seoul Peace Prize
2006 — Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Grameen Bank
2007 - The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal awarded by Vanderbilt University
2007 - 'Order of the Liberator in First Class with Grand Decoration' awarded by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Additionally, Prof. Yunus has been awarded 27 honorary doctorate degrees (all but one a doctorate), and 15 special awards. The Grameen Bank website includes a List of Awards Received by Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton was a vocal advocate for the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Muhammed Yunus. He expressed this in Rolling Stone magazine[19] as well as in his autobiography My Life.[20] In a speech given at University of California, Berkeley in 2002, President Clinton described Dr. Yunus as "a man who long ago should have won the Nobel Prize [and] I’ll keep saying that until they finally give it to him."[21] 
Peace Portal is proud to add one other Award to the long list already recieved by Dr. Yunus, the Board of Peace Portal has unanimously decided that he be awarded the Peace Portals - "Pillar of Peace" - award signified by this gold medallion.
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