Prof. Klaus Schwab is the founder of the World Economic Forum as a not-for-profit foundation and he went on to build it into the foremost international institution for public-private cooperation.
In 1998, he co-founded, with wife Hilde, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, supporting social innovation around the world. In 2004, he founded the Forum of Young Global Leaders.

Prof. Schwab taught Business Policy at the University of Geneva from 1972 until 2003.
He is recipient of a number of international honours for initiatives undertaken in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest and for peace and reconciliation efforts in several regions of the world.

He studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, University of Fribourg and Harvard University. His degrees include doctorates in Mechanical Engineering and Economics, in addition to  numerous honorary doctorates.