JAMES WOLFENSOHN, Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company

Wolfensohn became president of the World Bank on 1 July 1995 after he was nominated by U.S. President Bill Clinton. He was unanimously supported by the bank's board of executive directors to a second five-year term in 2000, becoming the third person to serve two terms in the position after Eugene R. Black and Robert McNamara. He visited more than 120 countries around the world during his term as president. He is credited, among other things, with being the first World Bank president to bring attention to the problem of corruption in the area of development financing. In 2006, Wolfensohn founded the Wolfensohn Center for Development at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. A friend of Jacqueline du Pré, he began cello studies with her at the age of 41. He continues to play and has appeared, together with musician friends, at private events at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere.

Wolfensohn has received numerous awards throughout his life, including becoming an honorary officer of the Order of Australia in 1987, and an honorary knighthood of the Order of the British Empire in 1995 for his service to the arts. The University of New South Wales conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in 2006 and he is a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.