CGD Alumni Set the Bar High

Recent days have brought news of two early CGD staff members excelling in their respective fields.

Today I learned that former CGD post-doc Jeremy Weinstein has received the Annual Karl Deutsch career award from the International Studies Association for the most significant contributions by a scholar of international relations under 40.  Jeremy served as staff at the White House National Economic Council after leaving CGD and is now an associate professor at Stanford University. I still refer often to a 2004 CGD report of which Jeremy was the principal author and project manager: Weak States and US National Security. Jeremy's work is a fine example of the contribution a scholar with policy savvy can make to a better world. 

Closer to home, another early CGD staff member, Brian Deese, has just moved from the White House National Economic Council to become Deputy Director at the Office of Management and Budget. Brian was a research assistant (and far more than that implies) and a key contributor to the first CGD book published in 2002, Delivering on Debt Relief: From IMF Gold to a New Aid Architecture. Congratulations are in order for Brian, too, though in this case I would add also a wish of good luck with the very tough budget tasks ahead.