Vinod Thomas
Vinod Thomas is Director-General and Senior Vice-President, Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) at the World Bank Group. He reports directly to the Board of Executive Directors and oversees the activities of the Independent Evaluation Group.
He was formerly Country Director for Brazil and Vice President of the World Bank, a position that he held from October 2001 to July 2005. In this capacity, he managed the Bank’s large lending and non-lending portfolio in Brazil, helped shape the dialogue with the government and the Bank’s Brazil Country Assistance Strategy, and participated in key events with the government.
Prior to that, he was Vice President of the World Bank Institute (WBI), where he sharpened the Institute's focus and quality and expanded its mandate and impact. Before heading WBI, he held positions as Chief Economist for the World Bank in the East Asia and Pacific Region. He was the staff Director for the 1991 World Development Report, entitled "The Challenge of Development" which assessed the world’s development experience. He was also Chief of Trade Policy and Principal Economist for Colombia.
Vinod Thomas joined the Bank in 1976. He has a Masters and PhD in Economics from of the University of Chicago. He has taught at Vassar College and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has written numerous books, reports and journal articles.
Ajay Chhibber
Ajay Chhibber is U.N. Assistant Secretary General and Director of the U.N. Development Program's Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific.
Mr. Chhibber has had a very diverse career at the World Bank for over 25 years covering both research and policy issues, and has worked across Asia. Currently he is the Country Director for Vietnam, where he manages over $1billion in lending. He has previously been Director of the Independent Evaluation Group and a manager in the Eastern European and Asian Departments of the World Bank. He was Staff Director on the World Development Report in 1997 and has served as a Senior Economist at the World Bank. He has published widely on development and policy issues.
Before joining the World Bank Mr. Chhibber was a consultant researcher for FAO and the International Food Policy Research Institute. Prior to that he worked at the Indian Planning Commission and was also a lecturer in economics at the University of Delhi.
He holds a PhD from Stanford University and an MA from the Delhi School of Economics.
Mansoor Dailami
Mansoor Dailami is Manager of the Emerging Global Trends Team of the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank. He is responsible for the monitoring and analysis of emerging global economic and financial trends that affect the prospects for developing countries’ growth, investment, and finance. He also manages the Bank’s flagship publication, Global Prospects Report (GPR). Mansoor is a well known expert on international monetary issues, infrastructure development and finance, emerging market corporate finance, and design of foreign economic policy for emerging market economies on which he has advised governments and published extensively. Since joining the Bank in 1986, Mansoor has been a team leader in major lending operations, advisory services, and policy dialogue with the Bank’s client countries in a number of regions. Prior to joining the Bank, Mansoor worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard, as well as B.Sc. (First Class Honor), and M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. Mansoor has been quoted in and interviewed by major international press and media, including Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, the Observer, Globe and Mail, Economic Times of India, China Finance, Bloomberg, BBC, CNBC, NPR, CBC, and Xinhua.
Jaime de Melo
Jaime de Melo, a founding member of the WTI, has taught economics at the University of Geneva since 1993. Previously, he held various positions in the Research Department at the World Bank where he worked between 1980 and 1993. He taught at Georgetown University from 1976 to 1980 and worked at USAID, the bilateral aid agency of the US from 1973 to 1976. He has been editor in chief of the World Bank Economic Review since 2005. He is the author, editor, or co-editor of a dozen books and has published extensively in the area of international trade policy, and has consulted with various governments and law firms.