Prof
Michael M.   Cernea

Research Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at George Washington University

Biography:

Prof. Cernea started his unusual training for sociology by working as a young journalist and field reporter for 5 years. In parallel he studied social philosophy, sociology and anthropology, following with full time Ph.D. studies completed in 1962. After several years as Head of the social research sector of the Institute of Philosophy of Romania, his native country, he joined the World Bank in Washington DC as its first sociologist in 1974 and served until 1997 as the institution’s Senior Advisor for Social Policies and Sociology. He served in CGIAR (1998–2003) as Member of its Advisory Council and iScientific Council (social sciences); since 2003 he worked also as Social Adviser in the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). In 1992 Prof. Cernea was elected to Romania’s Academy of Sciences. He is also Honorary Professor of Hohai University, Nanjing, China, and Doctor Honoris Causa of other Universities. The American Anthropological Association awarded him its Bronislaw Malinowski Prize and the Society for Applied Anthropology– its Solon N. Kimball Prize. He is also a student of cultural heritage, and his book Cultural Heritage and Development in Middle East and North Africa (2001, re-published in French in 2003) was formally adopted by the World Bank as its policy and “framework of action” for cultural heritage lending to countries in this geographic region. In 2004 he was elected as Member in the Board of Trustees of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, where he currently continues as member of its Council of Advisors. Professor Cernea authored and edited numerous books and monographs, among which the most recent are Researching the Culture of Agri-Culture (2006), Risk Analysis and the Risks and Reconstruction Model in Population Resettlement (2007), and Can Compensation Prevent Impoverishment? (2008, with H.M. Mathur).

Status: Confirmed