James Wolfensohn
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James Wolfensohn (b. December 1, 1933) was the ninth president of the World Bank Group. He was born in Sydney, Australia. In 1980, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. On April 14, 2005 he was named international “special envoy” to help coordinate Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and to spearhead reconstruction efforts once the Palestinians take over the area.
Wolfensohn's successor is the former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
According to The World's Banker by Sebastian Mallaby, Wolfensohn was raised in Australia, the son of an unsuccessful Jewish businessman who left England for Australia during the Great Depression. He was captain of the Australian fencing team in the Olympic Games before studying business at Harvard Business School. After a successful career in international banking, he was appointed president of the World Bank in 1995.
Further reading
- The World's Banker by Sebastian Mallaby, ISBN 1594200238.
External links
- Book reviews of The World's Banker (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/1594200238/ref=dp_proddesc_0/102-0653022-6097729?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155) give more information on Wolfensohn.
- James Wolfensohn's Project Syndicate op/eds (http://www.project-syndicate.org/contributors/contributor_comm.php4?id=538)
- 10 years as Head of World Bank (http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2088010), an interview with Wolfensohn, from Russia's ITAR-TASS
Biographies
- World Bank biography (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/ORGANIZATION/PRESIDENTEXTERNAL/0,,contentMDK:20112786~menuPK:232053~pagePK:139877~piPK:199692~theSitePK:227585,00.html)
- Who is James Wolfensohn? (http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/bwi-wto/wolfsohn.htm)
| Preceded by: Lewis T. Preston | President of the World Bank 1995–2005 | Succeeded by: Paul Wolfowitz |