Hikmet Ersek

Education and background

Ersek was born in Istanbul, Turkey to a Christian mother from Austria and a Muslim father from Turkey. His parents met in Paris and then settled in Istanbul. Ersek attended TED Ankara Koleji in Ankara until, at 19, he moved to Austria to attend the Vienna University of Economics and Business.[1] Ersek has a Master's (Magister) degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Wirtschaftsuniversität (University of Economics) in Vienna, Austria. He speaks English, German and Turkish fluently.[2] He also had a short career as a professional basketball player.[3] He currently lives in the Denver Metro Area.

Career

Prior to becoming CEO and President of The Western Union Company, Ersek was the COO. He came to Western Union in September 1999 and held a number of international senior roles within the company. Prior to his work with The Western Union Company, Ersek was in financial services first at EuroPay/MasterCard in Austria starting in 1986 and then at General Electric Capital starting in 1996 where he was responsible for retailer sales, card business and financial matters. He represented the GE Corporation as National Executive in Austria and Slovenia.[2]

Awards

In 2012, Ersek was recognized by Corporate Responsibility Magazine as a Responsible CEO of the Year. He was also recognized by the American Advertising Federation as a Diversity Achievement Career Achiever.[4] In 2016, leading Austrian newspaper Die Presse, awarded Ersek as "Austrian of the Year". [5]

Family life

He is married to D Nayantara Ghosh Ersek, a professor of cross-cultural competencies.His grand father is originally from Bangladesh.[6]

References

  1. Ersek, Hikmet. "A Spectrum of Traditions". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Hikmet Ersek". Teach for All. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  3. "Hikmet Ersek". Business Week. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  4. "Hikmet Ersek". Clinton Foundation. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. "Austrian of the Year". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  6. Ersek, Hikmet. "The Teacher Who Inspired Me: My Wife". Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
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