After studying in Prague, Italy and at Cornell University Václav Klaus started his career as a researcher at the Institute of Economics at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in 1970.

In 1989 the communist government fell in Czechoslovakia. It was called the "Velvet Revolution" because it was achieved without violence. In 1990 Klaus became chairman and one of the founders of the Czechoslovak Civic Forum Movement (OF), the leading political organization during the transition from communism. In 1993 Klaus was elected Prime Minister and negotiated the "Velvet Divorce" which split Czechoslovakia into two countries, the Czech and Slovak Republics.

A highly awarded politician and economist, Klaus has received sixteen honorary doctorates in nine countries; nineteen international awards and has published over twenty books. He is also currently serving as an NCPA Distinguished Leader.