 Rolf Dobelli at a WORLD.MINDS event | |
| Founded | 2008; 18 years ago (2008) |
|---|---|
| Founders | Rolf Dobelli |
| Type | NGO,Think tank |
| Focus | Science,Technology,Economics,Arts |
| Location | |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Method | Conferences, networking |
Key people | Rolf Dobelli (Founder) |
| Website | www |
WORLD.MINDS (known asZURICH.MINDS until 2016[1]) is a nonprofit foundation set up in 2008 byRolf Dobelli[2] with the goal to create "a bridge between the science, business and cultural communities".[3]
WORLD.MINDS is composed of the not-for-profit WORLD.MINDS Foundation[4] and WORLD.MINDS Management Ltd,[5] the operational event management company that organizes and produces all symposia and events on behalf of the WORLD.MINDS Foundation. On 29 March 2022,Axel Springer acquired a majority stake in the event management company.[6]
TheNeue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) called WORLD.MINDS a "community of experts for experts"[7] and described its annual meetings as "a salon for the 21st century".[8]
Members of the advisory board include formerDirector of the Central Intelligence AgencyDavid Petraeus,Serbian Prime MinisterAna Brnabić, and founder of3G CapitalJorge Paulo Lemann. In the past, formerUS secretary of StateHenry Kissinger was also on the advisory board.[9]
WORLD.MINDS has around 1,000 members,[10] including Nobel prize laureateKurt Wuthrich, activist and authorAyaan Hirsi Ali, President of theETH BoardMichael Hengartner, Airbus CTOGrazia Vittadini, philosopherJohn N. Gray of theLondon School of Economics, the rector of ETH ZurichSarah Springman,Max Planck Institute for Human Development directorGerd Gigerenzer, writer and politicianMatt Ridley,[11] Indian artistAparna Rao, American nuclear engineer and MIT board memberLeslie Dewan, economistPaul Romer, investor and authorGuy Spier,[11] professor of bioethics atETH Zurich and Fellow atHarvard University'sBerkman Klein CenterEffy Vayena, neuroeconomistErnst Fehr, experimental psychologistRoy Baumeister,[11][12] investor and entrepreneurDaniel Aegerter,Stanford University professor of mechanical engineeringAllison Okamura, MIT astrophysicistSara Seager,Harvard psychologist and happiness researcherDan Gilbert, and French-Americanmathematician andpolymath Benoit Mandelbrot, along with artists such asAi Weiwei and US-Israeli architect and designerNeri Oxman.[13][14][15]
The meetings are attended by around 400 guests each year, and WORLD.MINDS also holds regular in-depth meetings on specific issues, such as WORLD.MINDS MOBILITY in 2018, which focused on the future of mobility.[3]
In December 2017, former Swiss PresidentDoris Leuthard opened the 2017 WORLD.MINDS flagship Annual Symposium event in Zurich,[16] where the Chinese dissident artistAi Weiwei spoke withUli Sigg, the world's largest collector of contemporary Chinese art, about Ai's art, activism and views on the future of China.[17]
In December 2020, formerSouth African President andNobel Peace LaureateF. W. de Klerk proclaimed at WORLD.MINDS that South Africa would be likeSyria was then, had it not been for the policies his government put in place to endapartheid.[18]TRT World moderatorGhida Fakhry had asked De Klerk whether, in addition to the moral principles and economic realities (sanctions) behind ending apartheid, his government's decision to end the injustice was done to protect and salvage South Africa for the white minority.[19]
WORLD.MINDS has received some coverage onHandelszeitung.[20][21][22] InThe Daily Beast, journalist Noah Kirsch has called WORLD.MINDS a "Mini Davos".[23]
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