Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development. Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he holds the rank of University Professor, the university’s highest academic rank. Sachs is widely recognized for his bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges. For over 25 years, he has advised dozens of heads of state and governments on economic strategy, in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Prior to joining Columbia, he spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University, most recently as the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. Sachs was called by the New York Times, “probably the most important economist in the world,” and by Time Magazine “the world’s best known economist.”
RESEARCH & EXPERTISE
Sachs is widely considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on economic development, global macroeconomics, and the fight against poverty.
His work on ending poverty, overcoming macroeconomic instability, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease, and promoting sustainable environmental practices, has taken him to more than 125 countries with more than 90 percent of the world’s population.
His research also extends to market economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, international financial markets, international macroeconomic policy coordination, emerging markets, economic development and growth, global competitiveness, and macroeconomic policies in developing and developed countries.
EARLY CAREER
Sachs was one of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University.
At Harvard, he was known for his work on the challenges of economic development, environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation, debt cancellation, and globalization.
He has been advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General. From 2001-18, Sachs served as Special Advisor to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban Ki-moon (2008-16), and António Guterres (2017-18).
RECOGNITIONS
2022 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development
2015 Blue Planet Prize
2004 Time's 100 Most Influential World Leaders
Sargent Shriver Award for Equal Justice
India’s Padma Bhushan Award
Poland’s Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit
PUBLICATIONS
Sachs has authored and edited numerous books, including three New York Times bestsellers: The End of Poverty (2005), Commonwealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011).
Other books include To Move the World: JFK’s Quest for Peace (2013), The Age of Sustainable Development (2015), Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair & Sustainable (2017), A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2018), The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020), and most recently, Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development (2022).