Thomas Minder (born 26 December 1960 in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

, Switzerland) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

entrepreneur and politician. Minder was elected to the

Swiss Council of States The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism. It comprises 46 members. Twenty of t ...

for the canton of

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. He is an independent but sits with the

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...

. He is known in Switzerland for having filed an

initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

entitled "against rip-off salaries", created on 31 October 2006 and submitted on 26 February 2008, which proposed that the remuneration of executives in public Swiss companies be more tightly controlled by the shareholders. The initiative, one of the world's most restrictive on corporate governance, was accepted by 67.9% of the population and all the

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

on 3 March 2013. He is the initiator of a Federal law to better protect the concept of "Swissness".

Biography

Minder grew up in Neuhausen, attended secondary school at Rosenberg, college at the ''Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

'' and

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, where he obtained an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

. He is a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

commanding a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

fusilier ''Fusilier'' is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While ''fusilier'' is derived from the 17th-century French word – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in cont ...

s in the

Swiss army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

. After working in Paris and Zurich, he joined the cosmetics company Trybol in 1995 and has been CEO since 2006. Minder is single, an

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and member of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

, Schaffhouse Bird and Nature Protection Association, Pro Natura, the Association for Transport and Environment and

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minder, Thomas 1960 births Living people People from Schaffhausen 20th-century Swiss businesspeople 21st-century Swiss businesspeople Swiss chief executives 21st-century Swiss politicians Independent politicians in Switzerland Members of the Council of States (Switzerland)

Biography

See also

References

External links