Founders: Sir Sigmund Sternberg OstJ, KCSG, JP Sheikh Dr Mohamed Aboulkhair Zaki Badawi, KBE Revd. Dr Marcus Braybrooke DD MA MPhil Former Co-ordinator of the Forum: Sidney Shipton OBE, KFO Patrons: His Eminence Francis, Cardinal Arinze Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell, OM PC His Royal Highness The Duke Of Bragança Otto von Habsburg Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet The Rt Hon Michael Martin, MP Chief Rabbi Rene-Samuel Sirat Mr George Mallinckrodt, KBE Lord Hameed of Hampstead CBE DL Prof. Dr Klaus Schwab The Rt. Hon Baroness Hayman, PC Lord Carey of Clifton Sir John Stuttard Alderman Honorary Consultant: The Rt Hon John Battle, PC MP Advisor: Imam Maulana Shahid Raza

Founders

Sir Sigmund Sternberg OstJ, KCSG, JP A businessman who has dedicated a great part of his life to serving the Jewish community and the cause of dialogue and interfaith relations across the globe. • Member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews • President of the Movement for Reform Judaism in the UK • Sole patron of the International Council of Christians and Jews • Vice-president of the World Congress of Faiths • Member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 leaders

He was knighted in 1976, appointed a Papal Knight in 1985, and awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1998 for his interfaith work worldwide . His work for understanding and reconciliation between faith communities has taken him to every continent and has brought him recognition from nineteen countries as well as the Vatican. Back to Top

Sheikh Dr Mohamed Aboulkhair Zaki Badawi, KBE, An internationally known Islamic scholar, who died on 24 Dhu al-Hijjah 1426, 24th January 2006. He held academic posts and professorships in Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

His achievements include: • Director and Chief Imam at London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre • Established the Muslim College in London • Chaired the Arabic Forum , the Islamic Religious Council and the National Council for the Welfare of Muslim Prisoners • Vice chairman of the World Congress of Faiths • Director/trustee of the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism Dr Badawi was a deeply religious man with a great sense of humour. He was confident that Islam was for all times and all cultures and was also an innovator in Islamic banking. He was made an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) in 2004 and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I. Back to Top

Revd. Dr Marcus Braybrooke DD MA MPhil A retired Anglican parish priest who has been involved in interfaith work for over forty years, and was Executive Director of the Council of Christians and Jews from 1984. He studied for a time in India and in Israel and is a Peace Councillor. He was awarded a Lambeth Doctorate in 2004.

• President of the World Congress of Faiths • Patron of the International Interfaith Centre in Oxford His publications include: Pilgrimage of Hope, Faith and Interfaith in a Global Age, Time to Meet, How to Understand Judaism, What We Can Learn from Hinduism, Christian-Jewish Dialogue: the Next Steps, a Heart for the World: the Interfaith Alternative. Back to Top

Former Co-ordinator of the Forum - Sidney Shipton OBE, KFO
Sidney passed away in January 2008 after ten years service to the organisation.

He had been involved with, and served, a number of voluntary and charitable organisations, including: B'nai B'rith; Board of Deputies of British Jews, Council of Christians and Jews; International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists; Law Society; London Civic Forum; Medico-Legal Society Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House); United Religions Initiative (UK); World Jewish Congress; Wyndham Place Charlemagne Trust and Ta'ali.

Honours: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Knight First Class of the Royal Order of Francis 1 (KFO).

Patrons

His Eminence Francis, Cardinal Arinze
A world renowned expert on inter-faith relations, Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Cardinal Arinze was born 1932 in Eziowelle , Nigeria

His impressive biography includes studying and teaching in Nigeria , Eastern Africa and Italy. He was the world's youngest bishop at age 32, two years before becoming an Archbishop (in 1967). He was president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, until becoming Cardinal in 1984. During this time he was also pro-president the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. He was awarded the gold medallion from the International Council of Christians and Jews in 1999.

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Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell, OM PC
Baroness Betty Boothroyd was first female Speaker of the House of Commons. She entered the House of Commons in 1973 as MP for West Bromwich. In 1987 she became the first Labour woman to be voted a deputy speaker and was made speaker in 1992.

Affectionately known across the world as Madam Speaker, she gained a reputation for her firm chairing of debates. She dispensed with the traditional full-bottomed wig and presided over a host of Commons reforms. She also campaigned for citizenship to be taught in schools as part of the National Curriculum. On her retirement at the age of seventy she received a life peerage and now sits on the cross benches in the House of Lords.

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His Royal Highness The Duke Of Bragança
HRH The Duke of Bragança became the Head of the Royal House of Portugal in 1976. In addition to his official engagements and political campaigning, His Royal Highness takes part in cultural exchanges throughout the world.

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Otto von Habsburg
Crown Prince of Austria, the last Emperor of Austria and last King of Hungary. He was born in 1912, lives in Germany and is a citizen of Austria, Croatia and Hungary. He opposed the Nazi Anschluss of Austria of 1938 and, sentenced to death by Hitler, spent the war years in America. After renouncing all claims to the Austrian throne he was allowed to return to his home country in 1966. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the expansion of European Union from the beginning (especially of the accession of Hungary).

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Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet
Emeritus Professor of Bible and past principal of Leo Baeck College-Centre for Jewish Education, former Vice-President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and world renowned biblical scholar. Born in London in 1942, he obtained a medical degree before being ordained as a Rabbi. In 1971 he gained a PhD at the University of Heidelberg and returned to head the Leo Baeck College 's Department of Biblical Studies.

For over thirty years he has organised an annual Jewish-Christian Bible Week and Jewish-Christian-Muslim Student Conference in Germany . His work was recognised with the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1999.

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The Rt Hon Michael Martin, MP
Current speaker of the House of Commons in the UK, the first Roman Catholic to be elected to that post. He has been a very active Speaker, trying to raise the tone of debate in the Commons and promoting constructive criticism.

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Chief Rabbi Rene-Samuel Sirat
Former Chief Rabbi for France, world renowned academic and proponent of inter-religious dialogue. Born in Algeria, he gained his Rabbinic diploma in 1952 in France. He became a professor at the Séminaire Israélite de France in 1967, a post he occupied until 1980, when he was appointed Chief Rabbi of France. Following his retirement he became Chief Rabbi to the Central Board in 1988. During this time he also became Professor at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales

• Permanent Council President for the Conference of European Rabbis (serving until 1997) and, since that date, Vice President of the conference.
• Founding director of the UNESCO chair of "Reciprocal knowledge among the Religions of the Book".
• Rector of the Muslim Institute in the Paris Mosque.

Rabbi Sirat belongs to many international institutions and foundations involved in inter-religious dialogue and is a regular contributor to the development of this dialogue both in written and oral form.

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Mr George Mallinckrodt, KBE
President of Schroders plc, George Mallinckrodt has had a distinguished career in investment banking and asset management. His contribution to Anglo-German relations has been recognised through many awards, including: the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Officer's Cross and the Commander's Cross. He was made a Freeman of the City (2004) and awarded the Annual Sternberg Interfaith Award in 2005.

He is, and has been, involved with a large number of organisations - as president, director, advisor or trustee, including: Allianz of America Inc, British Invisibles, British-North American Committee, Christian Association of Business Executives, Committee of the Interfaith Foundation, Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust, German-British Chamber of Industry and Commerce, German YMCA, Institute of Business Ethics, Lambeth Partnership, National Mutual Life Association and Siemens Plc. He has also been recognised by a variety of universities.

Her Majesty the Queen appointed him an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1997.

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Lord Hameed of Hampstead CBE DL

Lord Hameed worked at three university teaching hospitals in London. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Cromwell Hospital, London, in which capacity he spent nearly 15 years. He is currently Chairman of the Alpha Hospital Group and Chairman and CEO of the London International Hospital, which is a new undertaking with super specialities of cancer and diseases of the heart and the brain.

He is Chairman of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council; President of the Little Foundation; Chairman of the Friends of the British Library; Governor of the International Students Hall; Trustee of the Ethnic Minority Foundation; and Trustee of the Woolf Institute and supports many other charities.

He was appointed High Sheriff of Greater London 2006-2007 and elevated to the House of Lords in February 2007. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London in 2007. His main interest (apart from hospital management) is Interfaith work, for which he does public speaking and for which he was awarded the Sternberg Award in 2005.

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Prof. Dr Klaus Schwab
Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum, Professor Schwab has worked to provide a collaborative framework for leaders of the world to address global issues. He co-founded the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which supports social innovation projects around the world.

He has received numerous international and national honours for initiatives undertaken in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest and for peace and reconciliation including. He was awarded the Interfaith Gold Medallion in 2002.

He holds (and has held) numerous positions of civic, academic and editorial leadership, being involved with: the Earth Council, Harvard University, Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation (Malaysia), JFK School of Government, MIT, Peres Center for Peace (Israel), Royal Academy of Morocco, University of Geneva, and two United Nations committees.

He is a Member of the Editorial Board for Foreign Policy, Chairman of the Editorial Board for World Link Magazine and author of the annual Global Competitiveness Report, in addition to numerous articles and several books.

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The Rt. Hon Baroness Hayman, PC
Lord Speaker of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. As a member of the Labour Party she was a Member of Parliament from 1974 to 1979, and became a Life Peer in 1996. She served as a junior minister in the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department of Health, before being appointed as Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in July 1999.

She became a member of the Privy Council in 2001, but left office the same year to become chairman of Cancer Research UK. She became chair of the Human Tissue Authority in 2005 and is a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Outside politics, she has been involved in health issues, serving on medical ethics committees and the governing bodies of bodies in the National Health Service and health charities.

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Lord Carey of Clifton
Former Archbishop of Canterbury and respected theologian, Lord Carey is on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum and Co-Chair of the Council of 100, which is seeking to bridge the gulf between the West and Islamic worlds.

Born in 1935 in the East End of London, George Carey studied and was a curate in London. His academic qualifications include M.Th and Ph. Degrees and he was Principal of Trinity Theological College in Bristo . In 2002 George Carey was made a life peer as 'Lord Carey of Clifton' when he retired from being Archbishop.

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Sir John Stuttard Alderman
Former Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Stuttard was a partner in accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers for over 30 years. He served in the UK Cabinet Office and spent five years in China as PwC Executive Chairman

His involvement with charities and business is vast, including: Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce, China-Britain Business Council, Charities Aid Foundation and King Edward's School Witley, among many others. He is also a member of a number of Worshipful Companies - Glaziers, Chartered Accountants, Barrelmakers and Plumbers.

He is also an honorary fellow and/or Director of: City University, Foreign Policy Association and Securities & Investment Institute. His honours include: Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, Knight of Justice of the Order of St John, and Companion of the League of Mercy. He was knighted in the 2008 New Year Honours.

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Honorary Consultant: The Rt Hon John Battle, PC MP
Former envoy for faith communities under Tony Blair, John Battle helps encourage and intensify the dialogue between different faith communities in the UK . His interests in parliament range from the campaign against loan sharks and supporting credit unions to working on issues concerning housing, asbestos, crime, prisons, health poverty and international development.

Born in Bradford in 1951, he became active in political and campaigning as a student. He was a Labour Councillor in Leeds and was a researcher for the Leeds Euro MP. In 1983, he became National Co-ordinator for Church Action on Poverty. John was elected MP for Leeds West in 1987, was a member of (and chaired) a variety of committees and was appointed a minister in 1997. In 2002, John became a Privy Councillor and is involved with International Development through his parliamentary roles as well as with charities such as CAFOD. He regularly writes for the Catholic newspaper, the Universe.

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Advisor: Imam Maulana Shahid Raza
Deputy Director of the Muslim College in London and president of the World Islamic Mission of Europe. Mualana Raza arrived in England in 1978, joining the Islamic Centre (now Leicester Central Mosque) as the Principal Imam. Since 1986 he has also worked to train British Imams through his involvement with the Muslim College. He is a board member of the Muslim Law, (sharia) council UK (as well as holding other offices). In 2004 he became a founding trustee of the British Muslim Forum, a new national body that represents over 300 mosques and other Muslim organisations in the United Kingdom and is involved with the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB).

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