Hans Rosling
Encyclopedia
Hans Rosling is a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician and public speaker. He is Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation
, which developed the Trendalyzer
software system.
, and in 1972 he studied public health at St. John's Medical College
, Bangalore
. He became a licenced physician in 1976 and from 1979 to 1981 he served as District Medical Officer in Nacala
in northern Mozambique
.
On 21 August 1981, Rosling discovered an outbreak of konzo
, a paralytic disease, and the investigations that followed earned him a Ph.D.
degree at Uppsala University in 1986. He spent two decades studying outbreaks of this disease in remote rural areas across Africa and supervised more than ten Ph.D. students. Outbreaks occur among hunger-stricken rural populations in Africa where a diet dominated by insufficiently processed cassava
results in simultaneous malnutrition and high dietary cyanide
intake.
Rosling's research has also focused on other links between economic development, agriculture, poverty and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has been health adviser to WHO
, UNICEF and several aid agencies. In 1993 he was one of the initiators of Médecins Sans Frontières
in Sweden. At Karolinska Institutet he was head of the Division of International Health (IHCAR) from 2001 to 2007. As chairman of Karolinska International Research and Training Committee (1998–2004) he started health research collaborations with universities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. He started new courses on Global Health and co-authored a textbook on Global Health that promotes a fact-based world view.
Rosling presented the television documentary The Joy of Stats, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Four
in December 2010.
software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive graphics. His lectures using Gapminder graphics to visualise world development have won awards. The interactive animations are freely available from the Foundation's website. On 16 March 2007 Google acquired the Trendalyzer software with the intention to scale it up and make it freely available for public statistics. In 2008 Google made available a Motion Chart
Google Gadget and in 2009 the Public Data Explorer.
Rosling is also a sword swallower, as demonstrated in the final moments of his second talk at the TED conference
. In 2009 he was listed as one of 100 leading global thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine
, and in 2011 as one of 100 most creative people in business by the Fast Company Magazine. In 2011 he was elected member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
Gapminder Foundation
Gapminder Foundation is a non-profit venture registered in Stockholm, Sweden, that promotes sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics and other information about social, economic and...
, which developed the Trendalyzer
Trendalyzer
Trendalyzer is an information visualization software for animation of statistics that was initially developed by Hans Rosling's Gapminder Foundation in Sweden. In March 2007 it was acquired by Google Inc....
software system.
Study and career
From 1967 to 1974 Rosling studied statistics and medicine at Uppsala UniversityUppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
, and in 1972 he studied public health at St. John's Medical College
St. John's Medical College
St. John's Medical College is one of India's premier medical institutions. It is part of the St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences run by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. It was established in 1963 and is situated in Bangalore, India....
, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. He became a licenced physician in 1976 and from 1979 to 1981 he served as District Medical Officer in Nacala
Nacala
Nacala, also known as Cidade de Nacala or Nacala-Porto is on the northern coast of Mozambique is the deepest natural port on the east coast of Africa. It serves as the terminal for the Nacala Railway, a rail link to the landlocked Malawi...
in northern Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
.
On 21 August 1981, Rosling discovered an outbreak of konzo
Konzo
Konzo is an epidemic paralytic disease first described by G. Trolli in 1938, who discovered it amongst the Kwango of the Belgian Congo . The outbreaks are associated with several weeks of almost exclusive consumption of insufficiently processed "bitter" cassava as a famine food...
, a paralytic disease, and the investigations that followed earned him a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
degree at Uppsala University in 1986. He spent two decades studying outbreaks of this disease in remote rural areas across Africa and supervised more than ten Ph.D. students. Outbreaks occur among hunger-stricken rural populations in Africa where a diet dominated by insufficiently processed cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
results in simultaneous malnutrition and high dietary cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
intake.
Rosling's research has also focused on other links between economic development, agriculture, poverty and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has been health adviser to WHO
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, UNICEF and several aid agencies. In 1993 he was one of the initiators of Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
in Sweden. At Karolinska Institutet he was head of the Division of International Health (IHCAR) from 2001 to 2007. As chairman of Karolinska International Research and Training Committee (1998–2004) he started health research collaborations with universities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. He started new courses on Global Health and co-authored a textbook on Global Health that promotes a fact-based world view.
Rosling presented the television documentary The Joy of Stats, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
in December 2010.
Gapminder
Rosling co-founded the Gapminder Foundation together with his son Ola Rosling and daughter-in-law Anna Rosling Rönnlund. Gapminder developed the TrendalyzerTrendalyzer
Trendalyzer is an information visualization software for animation of statistics that was initially developed by Hans Rosling's Gapminder Foundation in Sweden. In March 2007 it was acquired by Google Inc....
software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive graphics. His lectures using Gapminder graphics to visualise world development have won awards. The interactive animations are freely available from the Foundation's website. On 16 March 2007 Google acquired the Trendalyzer software with the intention to scale it up and make it freely available for public statistics. In 2008 Google made available a Motion Chart
Google Gadget and in 2009 the Public Data Explorer.
Rosling is also a sword swallower, as demonstrated in the final moments of his second talk at the TED conference
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
. In 2009 he was listed as one of 100 leading global thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
, and in 2011 as one of 100 most creative people in business by the Fast Company Magazine. In 2011 he was elected member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
Awards
- 2007 – Statistician of the Year Award from the Swedish Association for Statistics
- 2007 – Jubilee Prize from the Swedish Medical Society
- 2007 – Knowledge Prize from the National Encyclopaedia of Sweden
- 2008 – Speaker of the Year from the Swedish Event Academy
- 2008 – The Big Debate Award from Dagens Medicine
- 2009 – Georg and Greta Borgstrom Award from the Swedish Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
- 2010 – Illis Quorum, Highest Award conferred by the Government of Sweden
- 2010 – The Big Prize from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
- 2010 – Gold Medal from Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
- 2010 – World Technology Award in Design together with Ola Rosling & Anna Rosling Rönnlund
- 2010 – The Gannon AwardThe Gannon AwardThe Eugene R. Gannon Award for the Continued Pursuit of Human Advancement is an award for success in various fields of academia, named after deceased Vietnam veteran Eugene R. Gannon Jr. The award has one finalist in each of the fields of philosophy, arts or humanities, and mathematics or natural...
for the Continued Pursuit of Human Advancement (US)
External links
- Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen at the 2006 TED ConferenceTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in Monterey, CA highlighting novel ways of presenting global statistics. - Hans Rosling's new insights on poverty, from TED2007, featuring a surprise ending. (video)
- Video of Hans Rosling speech at the OECD World Forum in Istanbul
- Hans Rosling's blog
- Ola Rosling giving a Gapminder presentation at Google (video)
- Motion Chart Google Gadget
- Hans Rosling: Global health expert; data visionary profile on TED.com