Eduard Punset

Eduard Punset in Barcelona.

Eduard Punset i Casals (Catalan: [əðuˈart punˈsɛt]; born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 9 November 1936) is a Spanish lawyer, economist, and science popularizer. He holds a degree in Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Master's in Economic Sciences from the University of London. He has been an economic writer for the BBC, economics director of the Latin American edition of the newsweekly The Economist, and an economist for the International Monetary Fund in the United States and Haiti. As a specialist on the impact of emerging technologies, Punset has been a consultant to COTEC, Advising Professor of International Marketing at ESADE, president of the Instituto Tecnológico Bull, Professor of Innovation and Technology at the IE Business School (formerly Instituto de Empresa) in Madrid, President of ENHER, Deputy General Director of Economic and Financial Studies at the Banco Hispanoamericano, and Coordinator of the Strategic Plan for the Information Society of the Government of Catalonia.

Punset was elected to the Spanish Congress in 1982 as a Catalan Convergence and Union member for Barcelona province. He played a prominent role, as the Union of the Democratic Centre's Minister of Relations with the European Communities, when Spain opened its economy to the rest of the world. As financial advisor to the Government of Catalonia he took part in the implementation of the State of the Autonomies, and, as president of the European Parliament's delegation to Poland, he supervised part of the process of economic transformation undertaken in Eastern countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall. When Spain joined the European Union, Punset was elected to the European Parliament in representation of the Democratic and Social Centre in 1987 and 1989.

Punset is author of several books on economic analysis and social thought. At present he is Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at the Faculty of Economics of the Chemical Institute of Sarrià (Ramon Llull University). Since 1996, he has directed and presented Redes [linked page in Spanish], a science programme based around interviews with leading scientists, aired on the TVE. He is also the president of the audiovisual production company smartplanet [linked page in Spanish] and Board member of Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.

Punset was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2007, from which he recovered.

Awards

• "Honor Plaque" awarded by the Asociación Española de Científicos (Spanish Association of Scientists) (2001).
• Airtel Prize for Journalism awarded by the Fundación Vodafone (2002).
• "José Manuel Porquet" Prize for Digital Journalism (2006).
• "Galardón de la Psicología" awarded by the Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de la Región de Murcia (Official College of Psychologists, Murcia) (2007).
• "Rei Jaume I" Prize for Journalism awarded by the Government of Valencia (2007).
• Science and Technology Prize awarded by AEEPP, Asociación Española de Editoriales de Publicaciones Periódicas (Spanish Association of Publishers of Periodicals) (2008).
• Manel Xifra i Boada Prize awarded by the Col·legi d'Enginyers Tècnics Industrials de Girona (Official College of Industrial Engineers, Girona) (2008).
• "Asociación Profesional Española de Informadores de prensa, radio y televisión: APEI-Catalunya" (Spanish Association of Press, Television and Radio Reporters, Catalonia) Prize (2008).
• "Hombre CQ del Año" Prize for the Best Writer (2008).
• "Mención de honor" (Honorary Mention) by the Sociedad Española de Neurología (Spanish Neurology Society) (2008).
• "Premios Zapping: Premio Humano" awarded by TVE (2009).
• 2012 – "10 Most Influential Ibero American Intellectuals" of the year – Foreign Policy magazine.

Selected works

Punset conference

• El viaje a la felicidad: Las nuevas claves científicas (The Journey to Happiness: New Scientific Clues, 2005; English translation to be published in the United States in 2007 as The Happiness Trip: A Scientific Journey)
• Cara a cara con la vida, la mente y el universo (Face to Face with Life, Mind, and the Universe, 2004; English translation to be published in the United States in 2007 as Mind, Life and Universe: Conversations with Great Scientists of Our Time)
• Adaptarse a la marea. La selección natural en los negocios (Adapting to the Tide: Natural Selection in Business, 2004)
• Manual para sobrevivir en el siglo XXI (A 20th Century Survival Manual, 2000)
• Information Resources and Corporate Growth (coauthor,1989)
• La España impertinente (Impertinent Spain, 1986)
• España: sociedad cerrada, sociedad abierta (Spain: Closed Society, Open Society, 1982)
• La salida de la crisis (The Way Out of the Crisis, 1980)

External links

• Official Web site (Spanish)
• RTVE official Web page for Redes (Spanish)
• Eduardo Punset's blog (Spanish)
• Eduard Punset at the Internet Movie Database
• Skeptical commentary on Redes (Spanish)

[This page is a translation of the Spanish Wikipedia entry].