Former members of the WIDER Board

Prof Miguel Urquiola
Dean of Social Science and Professor of Economics
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
 

Prof Haroon Bhorat
Director, Development Policy Research Unit
University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
 

Prof Ann Harrison
Dean of Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
 

Professor Benno J. Ndulu (Tanzania) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board from 2019 until his untimely passing in 2021. He served as the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair on Development at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, prior to which he completed a 10-year term as Governor of the Bank of Tanzania.

Dr Kristiina Kuvaja-Xanthopoulos (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2014–2020. She currently serves as Finland’s Ambassador to Bulgaria where she moved from the post of Deputy Director General of the Department for Africa and the Middle East, at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Professor Ravi Kanbur (UK) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2009–2019. He is T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, and Professor of Economics, Cornell University.
 

Professor Ling Zhu (China) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2012–2019. She is Deputy Director of International Cooperation, Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
 

Professor Anne Case (United States) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2009–2016. She is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Emeritus at Princeton University, where she continues to teach in the School of Public and International Affairs

Professor Elisabeth Sadoulet (United States) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2009–2016. She currently serves as Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of California at Berkeley.
 

Professor Ernest Aryeetey (Ghana) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2003–2015. He currently serves as the Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana. In 2018 he delivered the WIDER Annual Lecture, The political economy of structural transformation – has democracy failed African economies?

Mr Pasi Hellman (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2012–2013. He currently serves as Consul General of Finland in Shanghai and is a former Managing Director of the Nordic Development Fund–NDF.
 

Professor Roberto Frenkel (Argentina) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2006–2013. He currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Policy and Economic Research (CEPR) and is a former Principal Research Associate at the Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES). He has worked as a consultant for international organizations, as well as the governments of Argentina and other Latin American countries.

Dr Martti Hetemäki (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board over 2004–2011. Before his retirement in 2020 he served as Permanent State Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Finland, where he was also Permanent State Under-Secretary during 2003–2013.

Professor Vladimir Popov (Russia) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2002–2010. He is a Principal Researcher in CEMI RAN (Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in the Laboratory of Mathematical Economics; a professor emeritus at the New Economic School in Moscow; and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa

Professor François Bourguignon (France) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2001–2008. Currently he is Emeritus Professor at the Paris School of Economics, prior to which he was Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at the World Bank during 2003–2007.

Professor Ronald Findlay (USA) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2001–2008. Prior to his passing in 2021, he was Professor of Economics at Columbia University, New York. In 2009 he delivered the WIDER Annual Lecture, The Trade–Development Nexus in Theory and History. 

Professor Deepak Nayyar (India) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 2001–2008. He is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Earlier he has taught economics at the University of Oxford, the University of Sussex, and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. In 2009 he delivered the WIDER Annual Lecture, Developing Countries in the World Economy The Future in the Past?

Dr Nora Lustig (Argentina) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1998–2005. Currently she is Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics at Tulane University, and Non-Resident Fellow at the at the Brookings Institution, the Center for Global Development and the Inter-American Dialogue.

Professor Jukka Pekkarinen (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1996–2003. He currently serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. He has also worked as Economic Policy Coordinator and Director-General of the Economics Department at the Ministry of Finance, Finland.

Mr Harris Mutio Mule (Kenya) was a member of the UNU-WIDER board during 1996-2002. He has worked as a consultant for international organizations as well as for government of Kenya and served as Assistant President at the Economic Planning Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Professor Ruben Yevstigneyev (Russia) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1994–2001. He was Deputy Director of the Institute of International Economic and Political Studies at the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. His research focused on economic reform and transition, with a particular focus on Russia

Dr Masaru Yoshitomi (Japan) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board during 1993–2000. He is Honorary Adviser at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) in Tokyo, where he was President and Chief Research Officer until April 2007.

Dr George Vassiliou (Cyprus) was a member of the UNU-WIDER board during 1995-99. He was President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1988-93. He has authored several books and multiple articles and contributions both in Cyprus and in international publications.

Dr Sylvia Ostry (Canada) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1992–1999. She worked as Distinguished Research Fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. She wrote numerous books and articles on various aspects of the global economy. The former economist and public servant passed away in 2020.

Mr Philip Ndegwa (Kenya) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1994–1996. He joined the Civil Service in 1965 and became a government advisor on economic issues and planning. He served as a Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, and Economic Planning. In 1987 Mr Ndegwa was appointed executive chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank, and in 1982 became the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya. He authored leading works on economic trends in Africa. Mr Ndegwa passed away in 1996.

Dr Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo (Portugal) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1991–1998. She was the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of Portugal, 1979–1980, and its first Ambassador to UNESCO. She authored books on economics, religion, and feminism. Dr Pintasilgo passed away in 2004.

Professor Antti Tanskanen (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER board during 1994-96. He was Rector and Professor of Economics at the University of Jyväskylä, and served as Chairman at the The Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

Dr Said El-Naggar (Egypt) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1992–1994. He was Professor Emeritus of Economics at Cairo University in Egypt, and combined his academic life, focused on economics in the Arab countries, with public service for more than 30 years. Dr El-Naggar passed away in 2004.

Dr Jacques Diouf (Senegal) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1991–1993. He was Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 1994–2011. He worked for many years on issues relating to agriculture in Africa. Dr Diouf passed away in 2019.

Dr Pekka Korpinen (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1991–1994. He is a political scientist and urban planner. He was Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki, and Vice Chairman at the CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation in Helsinki, Finland.

Dr Saburo Okita (Japan) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1993. He was formerly Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. His subsequent posts included Government Representative for External Economic Relations (1980–1981) and President (1982–1987) and Chancellor (1987–1993) of the International University of Japan. He was one of the architects of Japan's economic development after the Second World War. Dr Okita passed away in 1993 

Academician Abel Aganbegyan (Russia) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board during 1990–1993. During 1989–2002 he was the rector of the Academy of National Economy. He is a foreign member of the Bulgarian and the Hungarian Academies of Sciences, a corresponding member of the British Academy.

Dr Abdul-Latif Yousef Al-Hamad (Kuwait) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1991. Since 1985 he has served as Director-General and Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. He is now a member of the Board of the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS).

Professor Reimut Jochimsen (Germany) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1987–1990. He was an economist and politician. He served as Minister for Economics, SMEs, and Technology; as member of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia; and as President of the State Central Bank in North-Rhine Westphalia. Professor Jochimsen passed away in 1999.

Dr Indraprasad G. Patel (India) was a member of the UNU-WIDER board 1987–1990. He was the fourteenth governor of the Reserve Bank of India between 1977–1982, where his area of expertise was economic policy-making. As Director of the London School of Economics he was the first person of Indian origin to head a higher education institute in the UK. Dr Patel passed away in 2005.

Professor Albert O. Hirschman (USA) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1990. He was Professor Emeritus of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and authored several books on political economy and political ideology. Professor Hirschman passed away in 2012.

Professor Pentti Kouri (Finland) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1990. He was an economist and venture capitalist and served with the International Monetary Fund. Professor Kouri received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1974. He served as a professor of economics at Stanford, Yale, Helsinki, and New York City universities. Professor Kouri passed away in 2009.

Professor Janez Stanovnik (Slovenia) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1990. He was an economist and politician and served as the last President of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia over 1988–1990. Professor Stanovnik passed away in 2020.

Dr Bernard Chidzero (Zimbabwe) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1989. He served as Senior Minister for Finance, Economic Development and Planning of Zimbabwe. He was Chairman of the Development Committee of the World Bank 1986–1990 and a member of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Dr Chidzero passed away in 2002.

Dr Carmen Miró (Panama) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1989. She is a sociologist, statistician, and demographer. Her career involves work on fertility and family in Latin America, as well as many other issues affecting the region. 

Dr Mahbub Ul Haq (Pakistan) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1988. He was an economist, international development theorist, and politician who served as Pakistan’s Finance Minister 1985–1986. During 1989–1996 he served as a special adviser to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Dr Haq passed away in 1998.

Professor Ralf Dahrendorf (Germany) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1986. He was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist, and liberal politician. During his political career, he was a Member of the German Parliament, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Foreign Office, European Commissioner for Trade, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Education and Member of the British House of Lords. He served as director of the London School of Economics and Warden of St Antony's College, University of Oxford. He also served as a Professor of Sociology at a number of universities in Germany and the United Kingdom. Lord Dahrendorf passed away in 2009.

Professor Amartya Sen (India) was a member of the UNU-WIDER Board 1985–1986. He is the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, at Harvard University, and was until 2004 the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory and for his interest in the problems of society’s poorest members