Noel Gould was born in Honolulu to an Australian mother who inspired him to become an accomplished professional in both global commerce and civics. In 1998, he brought a substantial record of success in U.S. and international business, law, government, civil society and the Olympic movement to his vision of creating the APEC Voices of the Future program–and soon invited the Richard W. Riley Institute and Furman students and educators to play a key role.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) process was launched in 1989 in Australia as a way to bring together both the developed and developing economies of the Asia Pacific in a new framework for voluntary, consensus-driven multilateralism for their shared and sustainable prosperity. After attending the first series of the annual APEC Economic Leaders Week as a businessman, Gould saw this gathering of the 21 APEC member economies as a wonderful opportunity for engaged learning in global markets and citizenship. Gould sees APEC as “both a prescient and practical learning platform for developing the substantive skills and sensitivities required to navigate the new multipolar Furman’s students and educators help APEC Voices grow into the official engaged learning program of APEC and the Asia Pacific Business Advisory Council.
Gould is a top graduate of UC Berkeley Law School, the University of Southern California’s School of Public Administration, California State University Long Beach, and Long Beach Community College. His work in government and politics includes serving as a senior aide to mayors, governors, and U.S. Senators. He and his wife, Dr. Annie H. Liu, continue to contribute to the leadership of the APEC Voices program and similar engaged learning initiatives in China.