The World Bank Group has appointed a new Chief Economist and Senior Vice President in the person of Kaushik Basu whose term begin on October 1. Mr. Basu, an Indian national, most recently served as Chief Economic Adviser of India’s Ministry of Finance, while on leave from his position as Professor of Economics. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics in 1992 and has held visiting professorial positions at Harvard University and several others. According to World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, this among other achievements makes Mr. Basu uniquely suited to help the bank provide innovative excellence in leading their development research.