Werner Hans Erhard (born John Paul Rosenberg; September 5, 1935) is an American author and lecturer known for founding est (offered from 1971 to 1984). In 1985, Erhard replaced the est Training with a newly designed program, the Forum. Since 1991, the Forum has been kept up to date and offered by Landmark Education. He has written, lectured, and taught on self-improvement. In 1977, he co-founded The Hunger Project, an NGO. In 1991, he retired from business and sold his existing intellectual prop ...