Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (Arabic: ???? ????????) is the Chairman and Founder of international Jordan-based group Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGorg).Dubbed as the godfather of Arab accounting, Abu-Ghazaleh has also been credited for promoting the significance of Intellectual Property in the Arab region.

Biography
Born on the 22 April 1938 in Jaffa, Palestine, Abu-Ghazaleh moved to the Lebanese village of Ghazziyeh in 1948, two hours away from the port city of Sidon. After attending both elementary and secondary school(s) in Sidon, he later went on to pursue his higher learning at the American University of Beirut after attaining a full scholarship.

Whilst still an undergraduate, he worked as a teacher and translator. His first job after graduating was in an audit firm. In 1969, upon hearing a speech on Intellectual Property (IP) at a Time-Warner conference in San Francisco, Abu-Ghazaleh decided to work in the field of Intellectual Property Rights as well as accounting.

In 1972, two firms - Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Company (TAGCO) and Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) - were set up, each specializing in the field of accounting and IP respectively. Since then, Abu-Ghazaleh founded a total of fourteen professional services firms that specialize in various fields such as management, consulting, legal services, IT and many more.

Over the years, Abu-Ghazaleh managed to establish close partnerships with global organizations such as the UN and the WTO.

On April 4, 2007, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appointed Abu-Ghazaleh, as the deputy chairman of the UN Global Compact during its second meeting held at the UN headquarters in New York. 

Selected Honours

 * Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Canisius College, New York, USA, 1988.


 * Decoration of the Republic of Tunisia, 1985.


 * Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, France, 1985.


 * Coat of Arms of the Kuwaiti Association of Accountants  and Auditors, 1983.


 * Gold Mercury International Award, Bahrain, 1978.


 * Decoration of Independence of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Jordan 1967.

Selected Chairmanships

 * Chairman, Commission on Telecommunications, Information Technologies and E-Business, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, 2001-2004.
 * First Chairman of the Arab Internet Names Consortium (AINC), Amman, Jordan, 2001.


 * Chairman of the Founders Meeting of the Arab Internet Names Consortium (AINC), Amman, Jordan, 2001.
 * Chairman, Lebanese Intellectual Property Committee (ICC), beirut, 2000-present.


 * Chairman, Jordanian Intellectual Property Committee (ICC), Amman, 2000-present.


 * Chairman, Arab Internet & Domain Names Association (AIDNA), 2000-present.


 * President, Licensing Executives Society Arab-Countries (LES), Amman, 1998-present.


 * Chairman, U.N. Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), N.Y., 1995-1996.
 * Chairman, United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Accounting Standards, N.Y., 1995-1998.


 * Chairman, Steering Committee for Newly Industrialized and Developing Countries' Affairs, the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), 1989.


 * Founder & President, Arab Knowledge & Management Society (AKMS), [formally known as Arab Management Society (AMS)], N.Y., 1989-present.


 * Founder & President, Arab Society for Intellectual Property (ASIP) [formally known as the Arab Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property (ASPIP)], Munich, 1987-present (in consultative status to the World Intellectual Property Organization, (WIPO)).


 * Founder & President, Arab Society of Certified Accountants (ASCA), London, 1985-present (in consultative status with the U.N. Economic and Social Council, (ECOSOC))
 * Deputy Chairman of U.N. Global Compact (UNGC), N.Y., 2007-present.

Academic Associations

 * Microsoft Academy for Business Solutions/ Talal Abu-Ghazaleh College of Business (TAGCB) in collaboration with the German Jordanian University and Microsoft.
 * Talal Abu-Ghazaleh College of Business (TAGCB) at the German Jordanian University (2006).


 * Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Graduate School of Business and Management at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon (1980).


 * Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Research Center, Canisius College, Buffalo, USA (1988).


 * Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge Information technology|IT Skills Center, Amman, Jordan(2001).

Artistic Sponsorships

 * Patron, L’Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra national de Paris (AROP), since 2004.


 * Patron, Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra (LNSO), since 2003.


 * Patron, Freunde der Salzburger Festspâele since 1976.


 * Board of Trustees and Chair, National Music Conservatory (NMC), Amman, Jordan (2003-2005).


 * Patron, The Second Modernity: The Artistic Collaboration of Fairuz and Ziad Rahbani Conference, Anis Makdisi Program in Literature, American University in Beirut (AUB), Lebanon (2006).


 * Patron, Walid Gholmieh Symphonies (2006).


 * 28th General Assembly for the International Music Council, Petra (Jordan), 22-25 September 1999.


 * TAGO Golden Jubilee concert, London, July 1997.