Ricardo Ffrench-Davis (1936) holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and a degree in Economics and Business (Ingeniero Comercial) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He served as Director of Research and Chief Economist at the Central Bank of Chile (1964–1970 and 1990–1992), and co-founder and director of the Center for Economic Research on Latin America (CIEPLAN). He was Main Regional Advisor at ECLAC from 1992 to 2004. He is a Full Professor at the School of Economics and Business and Professor Emeritus at the Universidad de Chile.

He chaired the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP), which brings together 24 internationally prominent experts on development issues (2007–2010). Between 2004 and March 2010, he was the representative of Presidents Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet in the Technical Group appointed by the presidents of Brazil, Chile, France, Spain, and Germany to identify innovative sources of financing to fight hunger and poverty in the world. Between 2002 and 2006, he co-directed, along with Professor Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Laureate in Economics), an international task force on “Macroeconomics for Development.” He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Oxford, Complutense de Madrid, and Boston, as well as institutes in Spain, France, Italy, and Sweden.

He holds a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universidad de Talca, is an Extraordinary Professor at the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and was honored with the Universidad de Valparaíso Medal. He served on the boards of the Foundation for Overcoming Poverty and of the Center for Development Studies.

He is the author or editor of 22 books and over 170 articles published in nine languages. His latest books are “Economic Reforms in Chile, 1973–2024” (2026) and “The Neoliberal Pandemic” (2022), both only in Spanish.

He was awarded the National Prize for Humanities and Social Sciences in 2005.