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Robert Lawrence Kuhn

For Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Closer To Truth is a lifelong passion. With a doctorate in brain science and the author or editor of more than 30 books, Dr. Kuhn is a public intellectual who speaks and writes frequently. His article "Science as Democratizer," featured in American Scientist magazine, argues how the scientific way of thinking can influence global society; and "Why This Universe: A Taxonomy of Possible Explanations," featured in Skeptic Magazine, presents a universally exhaustive set of "ultimate reality generators."

Dr. Kuhn's books include Closer To Truth: Challenging Current Belief; Closer To Truth: Science, Meaning and the Future; Made In China: Voices From the New Revolution; Dealmaker; Dow-Jones Irwin’s seven-volume (5,000-page) The Library of Investment Banking; Handbook for Creative and Innovative Managers; Frontiers in Creative and Innovative Management; New Directions in Creative and Innovative Management; and The Firm Bond: Linking Mission and Meaning in Business and Religion. Five of his books have been translated into Chinese, including two editions of Closer To Truth. His article "Does God Exist?", based on critical thinking, appeared in prominent publications in China.

Dr. Kuhn is recognized as an international corporate strategist and investment banker, and an expert on China. For over 20 years, he has had long-term relationships with China’s senior leaders and he has been advising the Chinese government on economic policy, mergers and acquisitions, science and technology, media and culture, and international communications. He is Senior Adviser, Citigroup; advises The Walt Disney Company; and is partner in CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company in China (which he created). Since 2005, Dr. Kuhn has visited more than 20 provinces and 40 cities in China working with leaders in government and business.

Dr. Kuhn is the author of How China's Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China's Reform and What It Means for the Future (John Wiley 2009), which features exclusive talks with over 100 Chinese leaders.  He is well known as the author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin (Random House / Crown 2005), an unprecedented biography—the first of a living Chinese leader to be published on the mainland. It tells the inside story of contemporary Chinese history and politics through special access and it was China’s best-selling book in 2005. 

Dr. Kuhn is the co-editor of China’s Banking and Financial Markets: The Internal Research Report of the Chinese Government.  Five of his books have been published in China, including the first book on investment banking. Dr. Kuhn contributes to the business media, such as CNBC, Bloomberg, BusinessWeek and Chief Executive. He is Senior International Advisor of Global People magazine, published by People’s Daily. He is the first senior international commentator on China Central Television (CCTV). He is one of the “China Visionaries” in the ten-episode television series produced for China’s 60th anniversary by Shanghai Media Group and he was featured on CCTV Channel 1’s “Focus Talk.”

Dr. Kuhn was the creator and executive producer of the first documentary series, co-produced with China Central Television (CCTV), on China's economic reform produced for both Chinese and American audiences. The eight-part Capital Wave was broadcast nationwide in China on CCTV in 1999. In Search of China, a ninety-minute special, was broadcast in the U.S. on PBS in 2000 . (The Washington Post awarded In Search of China its "Pick of the Week.") Dr. Kuhn was  executive producer of Khachaturian, which was awarded Best Documentary at the Hollywood Film Festival in 2003.

Dr. Kuhn holds an A.B. in human biology from Johns Hopkins University (1964, Phi Beta Kappa); a Ph.D. in anatomy / brain research from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA Brain Research Institute, 1968); and an M.S. in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management (Sloan Fellows program, 1980). He taught psychology at MIT and was adjunct full professor of business and financial strategy at New York University (NYU Stern School of Business, 1981-1989). He is Senior Fellow at the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin (1983- ); a trustee of Claremont Graduate University; and has served on the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dr. Kuhn is chairman of The Kuhn Foundation, which he founded and funded to disseminate new knowledge and understanding in science and philosophy, support cultural endeavors, and promote good relations between America and China. Dr. Kuhn initiated a conference between the AAAS and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology on "Scientific Ethics, Responsibility and Freedom" (2007).

The current production of Closer To Truth, consisting of over 100 episodes for television broadcast and over 1400 web videos, is structured in three series: Cosmos (cosmology, fundamental physics, philosophy of cosmology and physics, emergence, science and religion), Consciousness (brain, mind, free will, personal identity, alien intelligence, parapsychology), and God (philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, critical thinking). Featured are over 125 of the world's leading scientists, philosophers, scholars and thinkers.


Articles

Why This Universe: Toward a Taxonomy of Possible Explanations
Skeptic: Volume 13, Number 2, 2007. All possible ways, manners and reasons the universe might exist -- outlined, organized, described and referenced in four sections: One Universe Models; Multiple Universe Models; Nonphysical Causes; Illusions.

Cosmos, Consciousness, God
Chief Executive: June 2008. How the Big Questions of existence can affect business. Public fascination with cosmos, consciousness and God is growing, and top management should know what is happening.

Science as Democratizer
American Scientist: Volume 91, September-October 2003. How science and critical thinking can engender democracy around the world. An argument for how science can strengthen democracy and promote public participation in the political process.