The Foundation Board

Jacques Forster was a member of the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) until 2010 and was its Vice-President from 1999 until 2007. He was Vice-Chairman of the Institute's Foundation Board from 2007 until 2010. From 1977 to 2006, he was professor at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED) where he was Director from 1980 until 1992. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Neuchatel and worked with the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development for over a decade. He has authored several publications on north/south relations and international development cooperation.

Isabelle Werenfels is a senior researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, and lectures at the Freie Universität Berlin. Before joining the SWP in 2001, she headed the Swiss Delegation to the “Temporary International Presence in the City of Hebron”. Prior to that, she worked as an editor for Swiss Radio DRS2. She has written widely on a variety of topics including transformation processes in North Africa, Islamist movements, and Euro-Mediterranean co-operation. From 2008 to 2010, she co-chaird the Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission. Ms Werenfels holds an MSc from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and a PhD in Political Science from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Annemarie Huber-Hotz has been President of the Swiss Red Cross since 2011. She was Federal Chancellor of Switzerland between 2000 and 2007 and Secretary General of the Swiss Parliament between 1992 and 1999. Before that, Ms Huber-Hotz was Director of the parliamentary scientific service and Secretary of the Swiss Senate. She studied philosophy, psychology, sociology, ethnology and political science at the University of Uppsala in Sweden and political science at the Graduate Institute. She complemented her education by studying spatial planning at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Beth Krasna has been a member of the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain since 2003 and the President of the Board’s Audit Committee since 2008. She is also a member of the Boards of Directors at Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Bonnard & Gardel Holding, Coop and Raymond Weil. Beth Krasna is also a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences. Since March 2010, she is the president of the Foundation in favour of Choreographic Art. Ms Krasna has a degree in chemical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and an MBA from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Journalist and columnist with a long-standing affiliation to the Swiss daily newspaper Le Temps, Joëlle Kuntz is the author of "Genève, Histoire d’une vocation internationale", (published by Zoé, Geneva, 2010) a brief history of Switzerland (“The History of Switzerland in the Blink of an Eye”, published by Zoé, Geneva, 2006) and an essay on borders (“Adieu à Terminus”, published by Hachette Littératures, Paris, 2004).

Carlos Lopes is currently UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa. He has served the UN in senior positions for over 25 years, including Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe and Brazil, head of development policy at UN Development Programme, Director of Political Affairs for Secretary General Kofi Annan and Executive Director for UNITAR and the UN System Staff College. He has taught in several Universities as guest professor and is a member of a dozen academic boards. Mr Lopes has published 22 books on development and African issues. He holds a PhD in History from University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and has a Honorary PhD in social sciences from University of Candido Mendes, Rio de Janeiro.

Jacques Marcovitch is Professor of Management and International Affairs at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and a member of the Global Agenda Council for the Future of Latin America at the World Economic Forum in Geneva. His past appointments include Rector of the University of São Paulo, President of Electric Utilities of the State of São Paulo and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo. His research and publications focus on environmental challenges, entrepreneurship and Latin America.

Julia Marton-Lefèvre is the Director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Previously, she was Rector at the University of Peace, Director-General of Leadership for the Environment and Development (LEAD) and Director-General of the International Council for Science.

Yves Mény, former Professor of Political Science, taught at the Paris Institute of Political Studies as well as numerous other universities. From 2002 to 2009, he was the President of the European University Institute in Florence and upon stepping down was designated Emeritus President. His research focuses on compared politics, national and European institutions, political corruption as well as populism.

Robert Roth is Professor at the law faculty of the University of Geneva and has been dean of this faculty from 2003 to 2007. He currently chairs the Trial Chamber of the Special Court for Lebanon. He specialises in Swiss, European and International criminal law.

Rolf Soiron, Swiss entrepreneur, is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holcim and Lanza. His international experience covers a wide-range of industrial and financial sectors. He chaired the Council of Basel University for 10 years and has held several elected political positions at the communal and cantonal levels. He is member of the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross Council and chairs the Board of the think-tank Avenir Suisse.