Jan Švejnar

Chairman of the Executive and Supervisory Committee of CERGE-EI and Director of the IDEA think-tank, Director of the Center for Global Economic Policy at Columbia University (Czech Republic)

Founder of the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education-Economics Institute (CERGE-EI) in Prague and a chairman of the Executive and Supervisory Committee of CERGE-EI and Professor and Director of the Center on Global Economic Governance at Columbia University, Mr. Švejnar previously served as Director of the William Davidson Institute (1996–2004) and International Policy Center (2004–2012) at the University of Michigan, where he was also Professor of Business, Economics, and Public Policy. He is a Member of the Forum 2000 Foundation Program Council and served as Economic Advisor to President Václav Havel (1994–2002). In 2008 Mr. Švejnar was one of two candidates for President of the Czech Republic. Mr. Švejnar earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. He was awarded the NEURON 2012 Prize for his lifetime achievement in Economics and received the 2015 IZA Prize in Labor Economics for his work on economic issues relating to labor, development and the transition from socialist to market economies. He is currently examining the societal and economic impact of the pandemic.