Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006
Dear Friends and Supporters of CGD:
As some of you know, I will be taking a brief official leave from my duties as President of the Center for about four months, beginning officially on February 3rd and running through the month of May. I have the good luck to be spending those months in Bologna, Italy with my husband who is on sabbatical from his teaching job. I will be teaching a course on globalization, inequality and development at the Johns Hopkins SAIS campus there, and completing several writing projects that I have neglected in the past couple of years.
I take pride in the fact that CGD, now just over four years old, is so much an ongoing institution, with committed and professional staff and ongoing full support from its Board of Directors, that I can comfortably leave it in others' good hands with complete confidence. I am grateful to our Board and to my colleagues for their full support of my taking this leave.
During my absence, Ruth Levine will be Acting President and Steve Radelet will act on my behalf in all matters of research management. Both Ruth and Steve also will maintain their involvement in their on-going projects. Many of you know that Dennis de Tray joins the Center as our Vice President, a new position, on February 1st. His participation in our management team will be important to Ruth and Steve in the coming months, and to me on my return.
Many of you by now know Janice Hoggs, my superb executive assistant, who joined CGD officially in October. She will continue to be in touch with me on any (unusual) issues needing my attention. Gunilla Pettersson, my equally superb research assistant, will continue to work with me long-distance on our ongoing research and writing projects. Meanwhile, my warm regards to all of you receiving this message, for an excellent late winter and early spring of 2006.
Nancy Birdsall
President
Center for Global Development
Dennis de Tray to Become Center for Global Development Vice President
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 -- Dennis de Tray, a senior World Bank official with a background that joins extensive management and research experience with the practical delivery of development assistance, will become the vice president of the Center for Global Development (CGD), an independent think tank that focuses on the policies of the U.S. and other rich countries.
De Tray is currently World Bank country director for the five Central Asian republics, based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He was previously World Bank country director in Indonesia, and senior representative for the International Monetary Fund in Vietnam.
In the early 1980s he headed the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study, a program that developed a household survey methodology that remains the standard for assessing how economic and social policies affect people's welfare. Following this he moved to the Bank's operations complex and oversaw the Bank's programs in Bolivia, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
"I am delighted that Dennis has chosen to join CGD," said CGD President Nancy Birdsall. "Dennis brings to the Center for Global Development years of experience grappling with development initiatives abroad and a real understanding of how policy research can make a difference. This makes him a perfect match for our mission: providing independent research and practical ideas for global prosperity."
De Tray earned his Ph.D., in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1972. He will begin working at CGD on February 1.
"I am proud, happy and very excited to be joining CGD," de Tray said. "In the four short years since its creation, the Center has done a remarkable job of positioning itself as the go- to institution for advice and counsel on global development issues and development institutions. I look forward to working with Nancy to shape and implement the next phase of the Center's own development to make it even more effective in its efforts to improve the way rich countries and the multilateral institutions do development."