Garry Jacobs
Garry Jacobs (born 29 July 1946) is an American writer, social thinker, researcher and consultant on the topics of business management, economic and social development, and global governance. He is the President and CEO of the World Academy of Art & Science; Chairman of the Board and CEO of the World University Consortium; Managing Editor of Cadmus Journal; President of The Mother’s Service Society; Distinguished Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Person-Centered Approach Institute, Italy; Executive Director of the International Center for Peace and Development in Napa, California; and a full member of the Club of Rome . Career. In the early 1970s Jacobs began to conduct research at The Mother’s Service Society on the theory and practice of individual, organizational and social development. Over the next decade, he wrote a number of papers on the principles of business management, economic and social development as aspects of an as yet undeveloped integrated science of society and is one aspect of an as yet undeveloped integrated science of society. Long before criticism of GDP became prevalent, he called for alternative measures of economic development and tested a new index applicable to rural areas of India. He also proposed  a comprehensive set of strategies to accelerate Indian development and education. He headed a research team that developed strategies to accelerate national development for the Planning Commission (India) which were published in the book "Kamadhenu: The Prosperity Movement". Jacobs also edited and contributed to the Indian Planning Commission's report "India: Vision 2020". In 1985 he co-authored the book "The Vital Difference: Unleashing the Powers of Sustained Corporate Success" with Frederick Harmon, a study of economic growth based on studies of multibillion-dollar companies. In 1990 he co-authored "The Vital Corporation: How American Companies Large and Small Double  Profits in Two Years or Less" with Robert Macfarlane. Jacobs' work as a business consultant has included assignments for medium and multinational corporations in USA, Europe and Asia on strategies to elevate corporate values, accelerate growth, and improve profitability. In 1989 Jacobs cofounded the International Commission on Peace & Food, and served for five years as its Member-Secretary, convener of ICPF’s working groups on Employment, coordinator of the ICPF research team that evolved a strategy to generate 100 million new jobs in India, which was adopted as official policy by the Government of India in 1992. Jacobs was the  lead author as well as editor of the commission’s report to the United Nations entitled "Uncommon Opportunities: Agenda for Peace & Equitable Development". He also co-chaired ICPF task forces that developed strategies for generating global full employment and for economic transition in Eastern Europe. He acted as the organization's member secretary until 1994. In 1995 he was elected to the World Academy of Art & Science and joined the Board of Trustees as Chair of the Committee on Peace & Development in 2005. He was elected as the President of the Academy in November 2019. In 2009 he was appointed  Coordinator of the World Academy’s project on Global Employment Challenge, and authored a number of studies about employment opportunities in developing and industrialized nations. Jacobs led the WAAS initiative that led to the founding of the World University Consortium in 2014 by WAAS and partner organizations to develop a new paradigm for transdisciplinary higher education and a global delivery system for affordable, accessible quality education. He has served as chair of the board and CEO from 2014 to present. Over the past decade Jacobs has led numerous initiatives of the academy including an international working group on new economic  theory, development of the Human Economic Welfare Index (HEWI), an alternative to GDP which incorporates several socioeconomic indices, new paradigm for global governance, global leadership in the 21st century in collaboration with the United Nations Office at Geneva, and survey of Human Security for the UN Trust Fund on Human Security. He also led initiatives for development of PG level courses on mind, thinking and creativity; social power; transdisciplinary social science; individuality and values; global leadership; global governance; and future of democracy. In collaboration with Ivo Šlaus, he developed the Human Economic Welfare Index (HEWI), an alternative to GDP which  incorporates several socioeconomic indices. Over the past decade he has published more than 100 articles on economic theory, money and finance, business management, education, global governance, international law, international security, social development, mind and thinking, and personality. Jacobs has presented and participated as a keynote speaker in many conferences all over the world. Other writings. Jacobs has written extensively on the application of principles derived from Sri Aurobindo's integral philosophy of consciousness, evolution to business management, social development and psychology, including a series of published lectures on Sri Aurobindo's Life Divine. He has also written a 900-page  novel entitled "The Book: the spiritual individual in quest of the living organization – Codec for the Infinite Game" translating these principles into a story of four entrepreneurs in quest for success in business and individual fulfillment.