Muhammad Yunus was born in 1940 in Bangladesh. Spent his
childhood in Bathua, the village he was born, Muhammad Yunus
graduated from Dhaka University Economics Department in 1960
and received a masters degree from the same university a year
after. After completing his doctorate studies in Vanderbilt
University, US, Muhammad Yunus started giving lectures on
economics at Middle Tennessee State University. Supported
the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 with other Bangladesh
citizens living in United States, Muhammad Yunus returned
home after the war and served in the Planning Committee of
the Government of Bangladesh for a while. After his resignation,
Yunus became the head of Economics department in Chittagong
University. During a visit to poor village of Jobra near Chittagong
University, Yunus discovered that small amounts of loans could
make huge differences in the life of a poor household. After
giving a low amount of loan to the poor household from his
own pocket, Muhammad Yunus tried to institutionalize this
approach, also known as “microfinance and microcredit”. His
efforts resulted with the foundation of Grameen Bank in 1976.
Received its independent identity in 1982, Grameen Bank help
the development of poor areas by providing microcredits to
people and both the Bank and Yunus received the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2006 with their efforts. The vision of Muhammad Yunus
is based on ending the poverty in the world completely. The
World Bank recently declared that the efforts of Yunus saved
millions from poverty.
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