Amartya Sen (1933- ) won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998. He has served as an advisor and consultant to the Secretary-General and many parts of the UN system,including ILO, UNIDO, UNICEF, UNCTAD, WFP, UNIFEM, WIDER, and extensively the UNDP, beginning with the first Human Development Report. He was co-chair of the International Commission on Human Security (2002-3). He has served as president of the Econometric Society, The American Economic Association, The Indian Economic Association, The International Economic Association, and Oxfam. He is Lamont university professor and professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University after having been master of Trinity College, Cambridge University (1998-2004). He was born in India and educated at Presidency College in Calcutta and Trinity College Cambridge. His many publications include Collective Choice and Social Welfare; On Economic Inequality; Poverty and Famines; On Ethics and Economics; Development as Freedom; and Rationality and Freedom.

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