Vera and Stefano Zamagni Professorship in Development Economics

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Development Economics

Established in 2016 by current JHU trustee and SAIS Europe Advisory Council chairman James Anderson (B’81)

JAMES ANDERSON was elected chairman of the board of Kinnevik in April 2021. Previously he was partner at Baillie Gifford, where he led the firm’s European Equity Team, co-founded the Long Term Global Growth Strategy in 2003 and chaired the International Growth Portfolio Construction Group (2003-2019), including as co-manager of the Vanguard International Growth Fund. He was also manager of Scottish Mortgage Trust during 2000-2015 and joint manager in the period 2015-2022. Mr. Anderson is currently trustee at Johns Hopkins University and member of the Investment Committee, Senior advisor to the board of Antler Group and chair of Panmure House Price Panel, as well as member of the investment committee of University College, Oxford.

In 2016 Mr. Anderson decided to endow a new faculty position at SAIS Europe for a scholar who could teach in both the MA in Global Risk (MAGR) and the MAIR programs, preferably a broadly-formed economist with a focus on emerging markets. Such a scholar would teach in areas related to applied financial development and/or related issues as well as some of the bread-and-butter courses in economics. In addition to contributing to the MAGR and MAIR programs, this scholar would be policy-oriented and allow SAIS Europe to raise its profile globally. Per donor’s wishes, the professorship is named after long-time SAIS Europe professors Vera and Stefano Zamagni.

Held by Tito Cordella

TITO CORDELLA started his professional career as an academic, teaching at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and at the University of Bologna. He then had a long stint at Bretton Woods Institutions where, alternating operational and research activities, he gained extensive policy experience on a wide range of issues (monetary and fiscal policies, financial crises, banking, finance, growth, sovereign debt and debt restructuring, and financial products, among others). At the IMF, Cordella was a member of the Asian crisis team and then joined the research department where he focused on how to reform the international financial architecture. At the World Bank, he was the Brazil lead economist, the deputy chief economist for the LAC region, and an adviser to the World Bank’s chief economist. He is an honorary member of LACEA, a member of the LTI@UniTO Scientific Committee, and an advisory editor of the Latin American Journal of Central Banking. Cordella has published widely in banking, international finance and development, and trade. He holds a PhD in economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium (European Doctoral Program).