Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (1936 – 2019)

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed is the founder and chair emeritus of 2008 Hilton Humanitarian Prize recipient BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) an international development organization based in Bangladesh dedicated to ending poverty. Under his leadership, in the span of only four decades, BRAC grew to become the largest non-governmental organization in the world, reaching 138 million people. Sir Fazle has received numerous national and international awards for his achievements, including the World Food Prize (2015), Open Society Prize (2013), the WISE Prize for Education (2011), the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award (2008), the Inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award (2007), the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership (2007), Gates Award for Global Health (2004), UNDP Mahbub ul Haq Award for Outstanding Contribution in Human Development (2004). In 2010, he was appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the Eminent Persons Group for the Least Developed Countries. In February 2010, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) by the British crown in recognition of his services to reducing poverty in Bangladesh and internationally.