The U.N Secretary General signed the beautiful diploma below for Hans, with a wonderful motivation that truly captures Hans’ dedication. It was a great honor for me to visit U.N. headquarters last week to receive the prize on Hans’s behalf. I thanked the committee for choosing Hans, but I also expressed Hans’ thankfulness to all of You who supported him during the past decades. This award is also to You!
To carry Hans’ legacy forward, at the award ceremony, I did what Hans would have done. I took the chance to teach. The slides I used are downloadable here among our many other free slideshows. Please take them and use them!
To all of you who loved Hans’ excitement for enlightenment, it’s time for you to take responsibility. Please help us carry Hans’ legacy forward into the next decade. Download Gapminder’s free slides and tools, and promote a fact-based worldview to everyone you meet all the time. With your support, Gapminder could potentially win even more U.N. Prizes in the future! 😉
Thanks!
Ola Rosling, President of the Gapminder Foundation
(More photos from the ceremony are further down the page).
Motivation:
“In recognition of the power of his intellect and influence for human understanding and progress; his dedication and unwavering commitment to public health, population dynamics and the eradication of poverty for over three decades; his remarkable quest and success in promoting increased use of data and a better fact-based understanding of the world communicated with his personal wit and humour through a wide range of publications, documentaries and educational videos, and above all, the iconic infographics: Trendalyzer developed by the Gapminder foundation he co-founded to enhance the human visual system’s ability to see patterns and trends from international statistics; his enthusiastic investigation of a rare and previously unrecognised paralytic disease and its cause; for pioneering health research collaborations with universities; and for his sterling leadership in championing international cooperation in health.”
