Andrés Velasco

Andrés Velasco is Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2013-17 he taught at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. In 2000-06 he was the Sumitomo Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. Earlier he was Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. Andrés ran for the presidency of Chile in the June 2013 primaries. He also was the Minister of Finance of Chile between March 2006 and March 2010. During his tenure he was recognized as Latin American Finance Minister of the Year by several international publications. His work to save Chile´s copper windfall and create a rainy-day fund was highlighted in the Financial Times, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, among many others. He received a B.A. in economics and philosophy and an M.A. in international relations from Yale University. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University and was a postdoctoral fellow in political economy at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Andrés is married to Consuelo Saavedra, a journalist and anchorwoman. They have three children: Rosa, Ema and Gaspar.