Biography
Professor Ian Goldin is Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford. He is a Professorial Fellow at the University’s Balliol College and a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University. From 2006 to 2016 he was the founding Director of the Oxford Martin School, building it into the world’s leading centre for interdisciplinary scholarly research on critical global challenges, and currently leads the Oxford Martin Research Programmes on Technological and Economic Change, the Future of Work, and the Future of Development.
During his decade as Director of the School, Professor Goldin established 45 programmes of research, bringing together more than 500 academics from across Oxford, from over 100 disciplines to seize opportunities and address key global problems.
From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice President of the World Bank, and prior to that the Bank’s Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). He served on the Bank’s senior management team and led the Bank’s collaboration with the United Nations and other partners as well as with key countries. As Director of Development Policy, he played a pivotal role in the research and strategy agenda of the Bank.
From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as an advisor to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa, funding major infrastructure projects and over 500 local, provincial and national authorities. During this period, Goldin served on several Government committees and Boards, and was Finance Director for South Africa’s Olympic Bid. Ian accompanied President Mandela on major state visits. He took the lead in establishing the Commonwealth Africa Investment Fund for the development of small and medium scale businesses across Africa as well as the Africa Infrastructure Fund, attracting funding from the UK and many other governments and investors.
Previously, Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Programme Director at the OECD Development Centre in Paris, where he directed the Programmes on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development.
Professor Goldin initiated and was Vice-Chair of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, which brought together 19 international leaders from government, business, academia, media, and civil society to address the growing short-term preoccupations of modern politics and business, and identify ways of overcoming today’s gridlock in key international negotiations. The Commission’s report, Now for the Long Term, was published in October 2013.
He has a BA (Hons) and a BSc from the University of Cape Town, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and an MA and Doctorate from the University of Oxford. He has taught at Harvard, Science Po, Tsinghua, and many other leading universities and is a fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) and at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS).
Goldin has served as a non-executive director on the boards of a number of leading businesses, including Old Mutual, Implenia AG, and Metropolitan Life, and was the Senior Independent Director representing the British Government on CDC Plc (renamed British International Investment). His board positions include being the lead independent director and chairing investment, credit, risk, audit, strategy, remuneration, social responsibility, and ethics committees.
Goldin has advised over 60 governments and 100 leading global businesses. His non-profit activities include being the founding Chair of the CORE-econ initiative to reform global economics, being a member of the International Science Council and serving as an honorary trustee of Comic Relief and other charities.
Goldin is also a founding trustee of the Centre for Future Generations dedicated to ensuring that decision-makers are informed about emerging technologies and to assist government and other leaders in harnessing new technologies to serve the interests of humanity.
Goldin has received wide recognition for his contributions to development and research, including having been knighted by the French Government, receiving honorary degrees and nominated Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. He has extensive media experience, appearing on all the major broadcasters, including having been interviewed on BBC HardTalk regarding his prediction of the pandemic and on migration. He has written and presented three BBC documentary series: After the Crash (2018), Will AI Kill Development? (2019), The Pandemic that Changed the World (2020), and the BBC Analysis The Death of Globalisation (2023).
Professor Goldin has published over 55 articles, including ‘Why is Productivity Slowing Down?’ in the top ranked Journal of Economic Literature. His numerous reports include Migration and the Economy: Economic Realities, Social Impacts and Political Choices (Oxford Martin School and Citi, 2018). He has written 25 books, translated into over 20 languages. The most recent of his books are The Shortest History of Migration (Old Street Publishing, 2024) and Age of the City: Why Our Future will be Won or Lost Together (Bloomsbury, 2023). His previous books include Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World (Hodder Hachette, 2021), Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years (Penguin Random House, 2020), Development: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2018), Age of Discovery: Navigating the Storms of Our Second Renaissance (Bloomsbury, 2017), The Pursuit of Development: Economic Growth, Social Change and Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2016), Is the Planet Full? (Oxford University Press, 2014), The Butterfly Defect: How globalization creates systemic risks, and what to do about it (Princeton University Press, 2014), Divided Nations: Why global governance is failing and what we can do about it (Oxford University Press, 2013), Globalization for Development: Meeting New Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2012), and Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped our World and Will Define our Future (Princeton University Press, 2011).