Werner Erhard, American author and philanthropist, founded Werner Erhard and Associates and The Hunger Project
Werner Hans Erhard (born John Paul Rosenberg; September 5, 1935: 7 ) is an American author and lecturer known for founding est, which operated from 1971 to 1984.: xiv  He has written, lectured, and taught on self-improvement.

In 1977 Erhard, with the support of John Denver, Robert W. Fuller and others, founded The Hunger Project, an NGO accredited by the United Nations in which more than four million people have participated with the goal of establishing "the end of hunger as an idea whose time has come".In 1991 Erhard retired from business and sold his existing intellectual property to his employees, who then adopted the name Landmark Education, renamed in 2013 Landmark Worldwide.