About our Leadership Team

Claes Nobel (1930-2021) co-founded the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) in 2002. Originally from Sweden, he held dual citizenship from Sweden and the US. A member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes, Mr. Nobel embodied the spirit of excellence and world betterment as a passionate proponent of humanitarian and environmental causes.

In 1974, Mr. Nobel drafted a document advocating the support for environmental protection and humanitarian leadership. Titled “The Nobel Laureates Declaration on the Survival of Man Kind,” it received signatures from 78 Nobel Laureates. In 1985, Mr. Nobel wrote the “Global Declaration of Earth Ethics,” which became the basis for the NGO not-for-profit organization he founded, United Earth. He founded this organization to bring attention to environmental issues through the prestigious Earth Prize Awards.

Mr. Nobel received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Virginia State University and an honorary Doctor of Law Letters degree from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, WI. He was selected for the 2012 Service Legacy Award from Usher's New Look Foundation, and in 2014 he received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Selective Corporate Internship Program (SCIP).

Mr. Nobel advised many prominent spiritual, political, and economic leaders from around the globe on preserving the earth and maintaining peace, instilling these ideals in youth through education and example.