Ian Goldin Speaker & Booking Information

Ian Andrew Goldin is a Professor at the University of Oxford. He took up his most recent position as director of Oxford Martin School (formerly named James Martin 21st Century School) at the University of Oxford, in September 2006. He is the Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development, and holds a professorial fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford. He was born in South Africa.

Prior to 1996 Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Program Director at the OECD in Paris, where he directed the Development Centre's Programs on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development.

From 1996 to 2001 Goldin was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and at that time also served as an adviser to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank from an apartheid era institution to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa. During this period, Goldin served on several Government committees and Boards, and was Finance Director for South Africa’s Olympic Games bid.

Goldin was director of development policy at the World Bank (2001–2003) and then vice president of the World Bank (2003–2006). He served on the Bank's senior management team, and was directly responsible for its relationship with the UK and all other European, North American and developed countries. Goldin led the Bank's collaboration with the United Nations and other partners. As Director of Development Policy, Goldin played a central role in the research and strategy agenda of the Bank, working closely with the Chief Economist, Lord Nicholas Stern, under the leadership of James Wolfensohn. During this period, Ian was Special Representative at the United Nations and served on the Chief Executive Board of the UN and the UN Reform Task Force.

Since 2006, Professor Goldin has been Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. The Oxford Martin School is the leading global scholarly centre of deep research into a broad range of future challenges. The School research faculty, more than 300 people drawn from over 20 academic disciplines, is seeking to find solutions to questions of health and medicine, energy and the environment, technology and society and ethics and governance. It recently launched the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, which is Chaired by Pascal Lamy, with Ian as the Vice-Chair.

In addition to his Oxford appointments Professor Goldin is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris and serves on the Advisory Committee of ETH-Zurich and IDDRI (The Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations), Paris. He is an Honorary Trustee of Comic Relief and on the Council for the Overseas Development Institute.