Function: Former President of the World Bank During his time as President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn became a public pie victim. Wolfensohn smeared a pie on his face and tossed another cake at the same time by two members of the “Artic Pie Team” at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland. The incident occurred in March 2001, and Wolfensohn was left with the difference that he was the first high-profile victim to be made on Finnish soil. Wolfensohn decided not to press cha
Photo: Getty ImagesInset: Kulma.net
James Wolfensohn, who served as President of the World Bank for 10 years and was a senior director of some of the best-known U.S. cultural institutions, died. He was 86 years old.
Wolfensohn died Wednesday at his Manhattan home, according to the Institute for Advanced Study, where he previously served as chairman of the board. One of his son and two daughters also confirmed his death in the media.
Australian-born Wolfensohn worked on Wall Street for years and then took over in 1995 as head of the World Bank, the global development organization that offers credit. He was nominated by then-President Bill Clinton.
During his time there, he raises issues such as corruption in the organization’s development projects and stressed that he pays attention to the needs and priorities of the countries implementing the projects.
He was a lover of the arts, in the 1980s he was president of Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington in the first half of the 1990s. In both places, he worked on boosting finances and renovating physical spaces.
He also performed on significant birthdays, giving cello performances with important musician friends at Carnegie Hall.
Together with his three children, Wolfensohn is survived by seven grandchildren. His wife, Elaine, died in August.
