Renowned Colombian economist José Antonio Ocampo combines a rare mix of skills and experience in both academia and high-level political responsibilities at global, regional and national levels.
Since 2007 he is a Professor at the School of International Affairs and Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University.
He has served as Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia on two occasions, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Director of the National Planning Department, Member of the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (Colombia’s central bank), Director of Colombia's main think-tanks on economic issues Fedesarrollo and the Center for Economic Development Studies CEDE, Professor of Economics at Universidad de los Andes and several other Colombian Universities.
He also served as the United Nations' Undersecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs from 2003 to 2007, producing a wide range of research and analytical work on development issues, leading the follow-up to major summits and conferences and providing substantive and organizational support to the United Nation's Economic and Social Council ECOSOC and General Assembly.
He also served as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), is a member and chaired for a decade the UN’s Committee for Development Policy, and in 2012 was one of the two candidates from developing countries for President of the World Bank.
He has authored or edited over 60 books, has directed more than 20 institutional reports, and has published over 400 scholarly articles on macroeconomic theory and policy, international financial issues, economic development, international trade, and Colombian and Latin American economic history.
José Antonio Ocampo holds degrees in Economics and Sociology from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D in Economics from Yale University. He has been a visiting Professor at Cambridge, Complutense, Oxford, Rice and Yale Universities and Getulio Vargas Foundation, and has received a number of personal honors and distinctions including the Leontief Prize Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought, the Jaume Vicens Vives Prize of the Spanish Association of Economic History for the best book on Spanish or Latin American economic history, and the Alejandro Angel Escobar National Science Award of Colombia.
