Prof Dr hc mult Frederik Paulsen is an established businessman, academic, philanthropist and explorer.
Frederik Dag Arfst Paulsen was born on 30 October 1950 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father was Dr Frederik Paulsen Sr, the founder of Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Frederik Paulsen grew up in Sweden, with his father and his father's second wife, Eva Wolf Frandsen – one of the founding researchers at Ferring. He attended school in Sweden and then went on to study chemistry at the Christian Albrecht University in Kiel, Germany and business administration at Lund University in Sweden.
Now based in Switzerland, Dr Paulsen's business interests focus mainly on the Ferring Pharmaceutical Group where he has been the Chairman since 1988 and has worked since 1976.
During this period he established the company his father founded in Malmö, Sweden as an international operation. Today, Ferring has operations in about 50 countries and sells its products in almost 100 countries around the globe. Ferring specialized from the outset in peptide drugs and has continued in its commitment to their development.
Dr Paulsen's business activities extend into other pharmaceutical and life science areas and publishing. Dr Paulsen's other business interests include:
In addition, he has interests in real estate and viticulture. Dr Frederik Paulsen also holds several board memberships.
Dr Frederik Paulsen has an extensive and varied range of largely philanthropic interests. These range from the islands of South Georgia, to Russia, Western Europe, the US and to the Kingdom of Bhutan. He is Honorary Consul for Russia in Lausanne, canton of Vaud, Switzerland. He supports infertility treatment in Russia to help address demographic issues and the protection of cultural heritage in Bhutan. Dr Frederik Paulsen is also an avid polar explorer. Dr Paulsen has a keen interest in art, in particular in Northern European 19th Century painters.
Dr. Paulsen has a long-standing interest in the history and wildlife of South Georgia. His interest was further piqued by a common historical livelihood of the island people of Föhr and the whalers of South Georgia. Dr Paulsen co-founded the South Georgia Heritage Trust which undertakes the maintenance of the South Georgia museum and as well as targeted environmental projects on the island.
Dr Paulsen developed his relationship with the Kingdom of Bhutan as a result of his fascination for its history of art, textiles and carpet-weaving. After assembling priceless collections of historical Bhutanese carpets from around the world, he returned them to Bhutan with a mission of retaining this special culture. He visits the Kingdom frequently and remains focused on the need to maintain its rich cultural heritage. Most recently, Ferring made multi-million US dollar donations to the Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan which will be used to fund the creation and development of a new cultural centre in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu, as well as to support the country's weavers, a role traditionally performed by women.
In June, 2008, the Frederik Paulsen Foundation celebrated the opening of a "Centre Healthy Family" in Bryansk, Russia. This fertility clinic provides support to infertile couples in the area and is the first of several such clinics planned. Dr. Paulsen hopes that the development of this project will help to address the very negative demographic trend in Russia today.
Dr Paulsen has a deep and abiding interest in exploration, particular in the Polar Regions. He is one of very few explorers to have stood on six out of the eight poles. Dr Paulsen was a member of the Mir expedition in August 2007 during which two submersibles (Mir 1 and Mir 2) became the first to reach the 'true' North Pole on the seabed. Dr Paulsen was one of three crew members aboard the Mir 2 and one of the major sponsors behind the expedition.
On 31 July 2009, Dr Paulsen opened the new Museum Kunst der Westküste. The museum features artists inspired by the continental North Sea coast from the Netherlands to Norway, during the period 1830-1930, as well as contemporary art. In addition he supports the Ferring Stiftung, founded by his father, which provides a cultural centre for the Island of Föhr and will promote scientific research into the Frisian language, history and culture.
As Honorary Consul for the Russian Federation in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, Dr. Paulsen promotes stronger relations between Russia and Switzerland in general and the canton of Vaud in particular, facilitates educational opportunities and supports business and cultural exchanges and experiences.
A Swedish national, Dr Paulsen now lives in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is divorced and the father of three children; two sons and a daughter from his marriage. With personal, philanthropic and business interests all over the world, Dr Paulsen's main languages are Swedish, English, German, and French.
Dr Paulsen is the recipient of numerous national honours and holds many and varied positions. Some of these are listed here:
Dr Paulsen has a large number of interests, encompassing science, art and philanthropy and holds the following memberships among others: