Paul Shrivastava
Paul Shrivastava is a distinguished scholar in management and sustainability, currently serving as Co-President of The Club of Rome since November 2023. Born in Bhopal, India, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Throughout his career, Shrivastava has held several notable positions. He was the Chief Sustainability Officer at Pennsylvania State University, where he also served as Director of the Sustainability Institute. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of Future Earth, an international sustainability research program, where he established its secretariat and coordinated a network of sustainability scientists across global hubs and regional centers. He also held the Howard I. Scott Chair in Management at Bucknell University and was an Associate Professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
As an academic, Shrivastava has authored 20 books and over 140 scholarly articles focusing on sustainable management and crisis management. His pioneering work in these fields has earned him several accolades, including the Academy of Management ONE Division Distinguished Scholar Award in 2023 and the IIM Calcutta Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016.
In his current role as Co-President of The Club of Rome, Shrivastava collaborates with fellow leaders to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequalities. The organization focuses on five key impact areas: Emerging New Civilizations, Planetary Emergency, Reframing Economics, Rethinking Finance, and Youth Leadership and Intergenerational Dialogue. Under his leadership, The Club of Rome aims to promote systemic transformations necessary to navigate current planetary emergencies and foster a sustainable future.
In 2024, Paul Shrivastava was awarded the ’Doctor et Professor Honoris Causa’ title of the Corvinus University of Budapest.
Dinesh Raj Bhuju
Dinesh Raj Bhuju is an Academician at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology and Hon. Professor of Mid-West University. A PhD in ecology (1998), he prepared a nationwide ecological database of Chure hills (2003), established dendro-lab and plots to assess climatic impacts at tree-lines of Nepal Himalaya (2008), and pioneered science radio and spearheaded science popularization in Nepal (1985). He coordinated drafting the STI Policy of Nepal 2018.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, he created a pro-bono platform “Scientist Nepal”.
Dinesh Raj Bhuju was the Chair of the 30th Annual Conference of ISDRS in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Csaba Kőrösi
Csaba Kőrösi is an accomplished Hungarian diplomat and environmental expert. Born in 1958 in Szeged, Hungary, he pursued studies at institutions including the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the University of Leeds, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Harvard Kennedy School.
Kőrösi began his diplomatic career in 1983, serving in countries such as Greece, Israel, and Libya. He was Hungary’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Vice-President of the 66th UN General Assembly. He also co-chaired the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, contributing to the 2030 Agenda.
Domestically, Kőrösi held roles including Deputy State Secretary for security policy, multilateral diplomacy, and human rights. He led the Directorate for Environmental Sustainability in the Office of the President of Hungary and advised on water and climate issues.
From 2022 to 2023, Kőrösi served as President of the 77th UN General Assembly, emphasizing sustainability and scientific approaches in policy-making.
His honors include the Hungarian Order of Merit, the Order of the Phoenix (Greece), the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and the Order pro Merito Melitensi from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Sándor Kerekes
Sándor Kerekes is a renowned Hungarian scholar in environmental economics and sustainability, currently serving as Professor Emeritus at Corvinus University of Budapest. Born in 1948, he earned his degree in 1971 and later obtained his Ph.D. in 1984, followed by a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree in 2003.
Throughout his career, Kerekes has been instrumental in integrating environmental education into higher learning. He founded the Department of Environmental Economics and Technology at Corvinus University in the early 1990s and introduced environmental education to the university’s curriculum. He also played a pivotal role in establishing the Ph.D. Program in Management and Business Administration and CEMS MIM international master programme offered by Corvinus alond with top universities worldwide.
Kerekes has held several significant academic positions, including Vice-Rector of Corvinus University from 2008 to 2012. He has also been actively involved in doctoral education, supervising over 27 Ph.D. candidates across various institutions. His international engagements include serving as a visiting professor at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics in 2012, where he was also awarded an honorary doctorate.
In recognition of his exceptional contributions to environmental protection, Kerekes received the Justitia Regnorum Fundamentum Award in 2018. He continues to impart knowledge as an Emeritus Professor at Corvinus University, teaching courses at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Additionally, since 2022, he has been affiliated with the John von Neumann University, focusing on environmental economics within the Regional and Environmental Economic master’s program.
Kerekes’s research interests encompass environmental economics, environmental management, and sustainable development. He has authored numerous publications, including the edited volume “Rethinking Finance: Sustainability and Community Finances” in 2016. His extensive body of work reflects his dedication to promoting sustainable practices and integrating environmental considerations into economic decision-making.
László Zsolnai
László Zsolnai is a prominent Hungarian scholar specializing in business ethics and sustainability. He serves as a professor and director of the Business Ethics Center at Corvinus University of Budapest. Additionally, he holds the position of Associate Member at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.
Zsolnai completed his M.A. in Finance in 1982 at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics in 1997 and achieved habilitation in Management in 2003 at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences.
Throughout his career, Zsolnai has held various academic positions, including research associate and fellow roles at the Department of Sociology and the Department of Business Economics, respectively. In 1995, he became the director of the Business Ethics Center at Corvinus University. He has also served as chairman of the Business Ethics Faculty Group of CEMS – Global Alliance in Management Education since 1997.
Zsolnai’s international experience includes visiting scholar and fellow positions at esteemed institutions such as the University of California at Berkeley, Georgetown University, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge. His research focuses on integrating ethical, spiritual, and ecological considerations into business practices. He has authored or edited numerous books, including “Ethics, Meaning and Market Society” (2018), “Caring Management in the New Economy” (2019), and “The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions” (2019).
In his current roles, Zsolnai continues to promote responsible and sustainable business practices. As an advisory board member of the Conscious Consulting Group, he collaborates with global experts to foster conscious business models. His leadership at the Business Ethics Center and involvement with international organizations underscore his commitment to integrating ethical and spiritual values into economic activities.
Barbara Wassen
Amb. Dr. Barbara Wassen has a long history of teaching experience at several universities, and even a longer history of professional environmental, energy, climate change working experience at several government entities since 2004 to date. In 2010 she started working in the field of international, EU and national climate change policy making at the Hungarian Ministry of National Development as head of unit, and later as head of Department of Climate Policy. Between 2018 and 2022 she served as the Deputy Minister of State for Climate Policy at the Hungarian Ministry of Innovation and Technology. Currently, she is the Hungarian Ambassador at Large for Climate at the Ministry of Energy and the assistant professor of Eszterházy Károly
Catholic University of Eger, Hungary.
She is a Hubert H. Humphrey fellow of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York State, specializing in city and regional planning, has a Ph.D. degree in Earth Science, has an MSc in Environmental Policy and Science, and another one as a biologist.
Baranyi Péter Zoltán
Péter Zoltán Baranyi is a professor at the Corvinus University of Budapest, an award-winning computer scientist (recipient of the Kimura Prize), and a Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is an internationally recognized researcher in the fields of computer science and control theory, with around 500 publications to his name.
Innovation plays a central role in his work. He was the first to formulate the scientific concept of cognitive infocommunications, which has since become an independent scientific discipline. He invented and developed the mathematical TP model transformation, which launched a new school of thought in systems and control theory. He is also the inventor of MaxWhere, a 3D virtual reality-based complex operating system.
Viktor Dörfler
Viktor Dörfler is a Professor of AI Strategy at the University of Strathclyde Business School and Research Professor at the Corvinus University of Budapest. A scholar, consultant, and speaker, his work bridges academic insight and practical application in the fields of artificial intelligence, creativity, and organizational learning.
His research explores talent, intuition, and the grandmaster–apprentice relationship, drawing on in-depth interviews with leading scientists, including 17 Nobel Laureates. He has published extensively, including What Every CEO Should Know About AI (Cambridge University Press, 2022), over 30 journal articles, several books, and numerous conference contributions. He also co-edited the Handbook of Research Methods on Creativity.
As a consultant, he advises organizations on AI adoption and expert knowledge modeling, and he previously led the development of a knowledge-based AI system. He is a member of the British Standards Institution’s Artificial Intelligence Committee (BSI ART/001) and serves on the editorial boards of Management Learning and Academy of Management Learning & Education.
András Gelencsér
András Gelencsér is a chemical engineer, university professor, and full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). He leads the MTA’s Atmospheric Chemistry Research Group and served as the rector of the University of Pannonia from 2015 to 2024.
Career Highlights:
Graduated as a chemical engineer from the University of Chemical Engineering in Veszprém in 1990.
Earned a PhD at the Department of Environmental Science in 1995.
Became a Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2002 and completed his habilitation in 2006.
Appointed university professor and later served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Engineering until his appointment as rector in 2015.
Re-elected as rector in 2018, serving until June 30, 2022, and remained in the position until 2024.
Faced institutional challenges during his rectorship, including faculty restructuring and separation plans.
Under his leadership, the university’s chemical engineering program was ranked among the world’s top 150, although the university itself did not make the global top 1000 overall.
Elected corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2019 and full member in 2025.
Research Focus:
His main field is atmospheric chemistry, particularly related to air pollution and climate change. He was the first to identify the atmospheric formation process of humus. His co-authored paper with the director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry became one of the most cited in the field. He also published a monograph on carbonaceous aerosols through Springer and has received over 4,200 independent citations for his scientific work.