Indian-born Gopinath made history by becoming IMF’s first female chief economist

Kolkata-born Gita Gopinath, who made history by becoming the first chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2019, has shattered yet another glass ceiling.

His official portrait was displayed on the wall of former chief economists of the Washington-based international organization. The only woman in a sea of ​​men, Gopinath’s photo “breaks the trend”, as she herself put it.

Read: India-born Gita Gopinath to become IMF number two (December 3, 2021)

“Breaking the trend…I’ve joined the wall of former IMF chief economists,” Gopinath tweeted as he posed along the wall with 11 portraits of former IMF chief economists. On one of the photos, Gopinath points to his portrait, the last in the line.

Gopinath, 50, became the IMF’s first deputy managing director on January 21, 2022 after serving as chief economist for three years. She was replaced by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas.

In her current role, she “represents the Fund in multilateral forums, maintains high-level contacts with member governments and Board members, the media and other institutions, leads the Fund’s work on monitoring and related policies, and oversees research and flagship publications,” according to the IMF website.

In her previous role, Gopinath was the Fund’s economic advisor and director of its research department. She has edited thirteen World Economic Outlook publications, including forecasts of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy.

She co-authored the ‘Pandemic Paper’ on how to end the Covid-19 pandemic which set globally approved targets to vaccinate the world and led to the creation of the multilateral task force consisting of leaders of the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. , and the WHO to help end the pandemic.

An overseas citizen of India. Gopinath is a recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honor given to Overseas Indians by the Government of India, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Washington.

Read: Gita Gopinath to leave IMF and return to Harvard University in January (October 20, 2021)

The IMF named her one of the “Top 25 Economists Under 45” in 2014, she was chosen as one of the “25 Indians to Watch” by the Financial Times in 2012, and she was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.

Gopinath earned his doctorate in economics from Princeton University in 2001, after earning a BA from Lady Shri Ram College and an MA from the Delhi School of Economics and the University of Washington.

Prior to joining the IMF, Gopinath held the John Zwaanstra Professorship of International Studies and Economics in the Economics Department at Harvard University (2005-22) and before that she was Assistant Professor of economics at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago (2001-05).

His research, which focuses on international finance and macroeconomics, is widely cited and has been published in many leading economic journals.

She is the author of numerous research articles on exchange rates, trade and investment, international financial crises, monetary policy, debt and emerging market crises.

Gopinath is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society, and a member of the Group of Thirty. She has received numerous awards and honours.

Read: Gita Gopinath joins wall of former IMF chief economists (July 7, 2022)

In 2021, the Financial Times named her one of the “25 Most Powerful Women of the Year”, the International Economic Association named her Schumpeter-Haberler Distinguished Fellow, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association awarded her the John Kenneth Galbraith Prize and the Carnegie Corporation named her among the “great (American) immigrants”.

She was named one of “50 People Who Defined 2019” by Bloomberg, a “Top Global Thinker” by Foreign Policy, and one of “Women who Broke Major Barriers to Become First” by Time Magazine.