Fahmida Khatun to become CPD Distinguished Fellow
Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), will assume the role of Distinguished Fellow at the think tank from September 1, following the completion of her nine-and-a-half-year tenure.
The decision was approved at CPD’s 68th Board Meeting, according to a press release issued by the organisation.
Dr Khatun has been associated with CPD since 2003 and served as its executive director since February 2017. During her tenure, the scope, diversity and quality of the organisation’s research programmes expanded significantly, while the number of funded projects, programmes, funding organisations and development partners increased severalfold.
Under her leadership, CPD’s Development Fund increased by approximately 590 per cent, while its annual income grew by around 171 per cent, the release said.
She also led improvements in CPD’s physical and technological infrastructure and strengthened staff development, research capacity, publication quality, digitalisation and institutional governance.
Before joining CPD, Dr Khatun served as a research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and held senior positions at the UNDP and USAID Mission in Bangladesh. She has also taught economics at universities in Bangladesh and the United Kingdom.
Dr Khatun holds a master’s and a PhD in economics from University College London and undertook postdoctoral research at Columbia University in the United States. Her research interests include macroeconomic, fiscal and monetary policies, governance of the banking and financial sectors, international trade and the economic transformation of least developed countries.
She is also a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Experts on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index and the High-Level Advisory Board on the Productive Capacities Index of UNCTAD.
She serves on the Task Force on Climate, Development and International Financial Architecture of Boston University and is a board member of Bangladesh Bank and BRAC.
