Honored Guest

Working for the Colorado Highway Department as a student in 1958, Hansjörg Wyss developed a lifelong love for America’s national parks and public lands. In particular, he grew to admire a uniquely American idea: that a nation’s iconic landscapes should be protected for everyone to experience and explore.

A native of Switzerland who now lives in Wilson, Wyoming, Mr. Wyss first experiences in the West drew him back to the United States to attend the Harvard Business School, from which he graduated in 1965. With his American education and passion for discovery, he started a successful medical research and design company, headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, whose products have helped millions of patients recover from skeletal and soft tissue trauma and injuries.

Grateful for the opportunities the United States, its lands, and the world have afforded him, Mr. Wyss believes he has a duty to repay his good fortune through philanthropic endeavors that expand the reach of human possibility and compassion. Practical and innovative by nature, Mr. Wyss’s philanthropy fosters new ideas, new tools, and new collaborations in areas from medicine, education and the arts to economic opportunity, conflict resolution, and land conservation.