LSE appoints former Chilean Finance Minister as Dean of their new School of Public Policy

The London School of Economics and Political Science has appointed Professor Andrés Velasco as the inaugural Dean of the new School of Public Policy

The School of Public Policy will build on existing intellectual strengths of LSE, incorporating the two-year interdisciplinary Master of Public Administration (MPA), the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) for working professionals, and the Executive Master of Public Policy, a semi-bespoke degree for future leaders of the UK Civil Service.

In addition, from September 2019 the School of Public Policy will offer a new one-year Master of Public Policy (MPP), aimed at students with relevant professional experience in policy-making.

The School of Public Policy’s teaching will be complemented by direct interaction with policy-making professionals in the UK and internationally. In the heart of London, close to both the City and Westminster, LSE is ideally situated to develop a global network of practitioners who will reinforce students’ understanding of policy-making in the real world.

Society undertook a highly targeted approach to this process, working closely with the selection committee at LSE as part of the identification and engagement process with potential candidates. The search was global in scope encompassing senior academics and practitioners in public policy fields.

Professor Velasco was the Minister of Finance in Chile between 2006 and 2010. He received a BA in economics and philosophy and an MA in international relations from Yale University. He holds a PhD in economics from Columbia University, and was a postdoctoral fellow in political economy at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to entering government, Professor Velasco was Sumitomo-FASID Professor of Development and International Finance at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Earlier he was Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University and Assistant Professor at Columbia University.

Professor Velasco has been a consultant to the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was president of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association from 2005 to 2007. In February 2006 he received the Award for Excellence in Research granted by the Inter-American Development Bank.

During the process, Society worked closely with Paul Sullivan, School Manager for the new School of Public Policy, who commented:

“Society were excellent to work with: informed, knowledgeable, and with a clear understanding of the candidate profile we were looking for. Society helped up to shape the parameters of our search, provided thorough research papers and were instrumental in bringing the search to a highly successful conclusion. I’d recommend their services without hesitation.”

To read more about this exciting appointment, please click here to the LSE website.