DCU has awarded Nobel Peace Laureate and social entrepreneur, Professor Muhammad Yunus, with an honorary Doctor of Philosophy.
Professor Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the concepts of microfinance and microcredit and founding the Grameen Bank. Grameen Bank gives loans to entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.
Accepting the award in front of a packed Helix Theatre, Yunnus thanked DCU for the honour.
““My work was a work of desperation. When someone is in a desperate situation, you do things without thinking about it because something needs to be done. I created a bank which is owned by poor people, not only are they poor people, they are poor women,” he said.
“Today’s technology is available in such a way that healthcare could be released to the remotest person, to the poorest person, almost without cost. I am very happy to hear that this University is working on it and we will be very happy to work together as this is something that can be done immediately,” he continued.
Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU praised Yunnus at the ceremony, “ The award is a public statement of the values that this University cherishes and it serves to inspire our students, faculty and the wider DCU community. We are pleased to pay tribute to Muhammad Yunus in recognition of his transformational leadership through social entrepreneurship and through his outstanding humanitarian efforts in working to eradicate poverty.”
Finnian Curran
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