GEORGE S. WISE MEDAL RECIPIENTS
2023
Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore
Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam has devoted his career to public service, most recently as Senior Minister in Singapore. He also serves as Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Deputy Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. He formerly served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, and Minister for Education. Among numerous international appointments, Mr. Shanmugaratnam chairs the Board of Trustees of the Group of Thirty and is co-chair of both the Global Commission on the Economics of Water and the Global Education Forum. The first Asian to chair the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Mr. Shanmugaratnam is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees, among other distinguished international roles. He holds a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
2022
Dr. Mark J. Carney, Canada/UK
Mark Carney is the former Governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020), former Governor of the Bank of Canada (2008-2013) and former Chairman of the Financial Stability Board (2011- 2018). He currently serves as UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and as Vice-Chair and Head of Transition Investing at Brookfield Asset Management. He is a trustee and member of the Group of Thirty (G30) and the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, among others. Born in Canada’s Northwest Territories, Dr. Carney received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, and a master’s and doctorate from Oxford University – all in economics. Following a 13-year career with Goldman Sachs, he was appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003 and, in 2004, he became Canada’s Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance.
2019
Dr. Axel A. Weber, Germany
Dr. Axel Weber has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS, a Swiss bank and the world's largest global wealth manager, since 2012. Previously, he served as a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, President of the German Bundesbank, and as a member of the German Council of Economic Experts. He was a professor at the University of Cologne (2001-2004), Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main (1998-2001) and University of Bonn (1994-1998), and a Visiting Professor at the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago (2011-2012). A leading financial expert, Dr. Weber serves in a diverse range of advisory and trustee roles, including as Chairman of the Board of the Institute of International Finance, member of the Group of Thirty, and board member of the Swiss Bankers Association. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Siegen, Germany.
2017
Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat, USA
Stuart Eizenstat is an international diplomat and attorney currently serving as Special Adviser to the Secretary of State on Holocaust Issues and Chief Negotiator for the Jewish Claims Conference with the German Government. He has held a plethora of senior positions under three US administrations, including Chief White House Domestic Policy Adviser to President Jimmy Carter, US Ambassador to the European Union and US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. In his role as Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State on Holocaust-Era Issues in the Clinton Administration, Eizenstat successfully negotiated major agreements with European countries covering restitution of property, looted art, bank accounts and more for Holocaust survivors. He has been awarded eight honorary degrees and some of the highest civilian awards including the French Legion of Honor from the French government and the Czech Council of Victims of Nazism Medal of Honor. He holds a Juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School.
2016
Ban Ki-moon
Manuel Valls
Mortimer B. Zuckerman
Mortimer B. Zuckerman is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report, Chairman and Publisher of the New York Daily News, and co-founder and Chairman of Boston Properties Inc. He is a trustee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; a member of the Bank of America Global Wealth & Investment Management Committee, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington Institute for Near East Studies, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, International Institute of Strategic Studies, and Bipartisan Policy Center; and Vice Chair and Treasurer of the International Peace Institute. A sponsor of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Zuckerman is a former Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a former lecturer of City and Regional Planning at Yale University. He is a former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and former President of the America-Israel Friendship League. Zuckerman holds an MBA from the Wharton Graduate School and an LLM from Harvard University.
2015
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwasniewski served as President of the Republic of Poland from 1995-2005. A proponent of European integration, Kwasniewski campaigned for approval of the European Union accession treaty in 2003 and led Poland toward NATO membership in 1999. He authored numerous local and regional initiatives within Europe, joined the global war on terror and backed the decision to send Polish troops to Iraq. He was also instrumental in advancing reconciliation between Poles and the German, Jewish and Ukrainian peoples. In 2006, Kwasniewski was appointed Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University, teaching students about contemporary European politics and democratization in Central and Eastern Europe. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Amicus Europe Foundation in Warsaw, and Head of the International Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation.
2014
John W. Howard
Madame Liu Yandong
2013
Stanley Fischer