Jeremy Rifkin

Jeremy Rifkin is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and the bestselling author of nineteen books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. His books have been translated into more than thirty five languages and are used in hundreds of universities, corporations and government agencies around the world. His most recent books include The Third Industrial Revolution, The Empathic Civilization, The Hydrogen Economy and The European Dream.

Mr. Rifkin has been an advisor to the European Union for the past decade. Mr. Rifkin advised the government of Spain during its presidency of the European Union (January 1st - June 30, 2010) and has also served as an adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Jose Socrates of Portugal, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, and Prime Minister Janez JanÅia of Slovenia, during their respective European Council Presidencies. He currently advises the European Commission, the European Parliament, and several EU heads of state.

He is the principle architect of the European Union's Third Industrial Revolution long-term economic sustainability plan to address the triple challenge of the global economic crisis, energy security, and climate change. It was formally endorsed by the European Parliament in 2007 and is now being implemented within the European Commission as well as in the 27 member-states.

Mr. Rifkin is also the founder and chairperson of the Third Industrial Revolution Global CEO Business Roundtable comprised of 100 of the world's leading companies in the sectors of renewable energy, construction, architecture, IT, power and utility and transport and logistic. His team is working with cities, regions, and national governments to develop master plans to transition their economies into post-carbon Third Industrial Revolution infrastructures.

Since 1994, Mr. Rifkin has been a senior lecturer at the Wharton School's Executive Education Program at the University of Pennsylvania, the world's #1 ranked business school.

His monthly column appears in many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines, including The Los Angeles Times in the United States, The Guardian in the U.K., Die Süddeutsche Zeitung and Handelsblatt in Germany, Al-Ittihad in the U.A.E. and many others.

Mr. Rifkin is the founder and president of The Foundation on Economic Trends, which examines the economic, environmental, social and cultural impacts of new technologies introduced into the global economy.