5 Things To Know About Gita Gopinath, The First Female Chief Economist For the IMF
As a woman myself, I feel like getting extra proud when I see a woman break the glass ceiling and make a name for herself. Especially when it is a woman of colour who is able to achieve such heights. One such woman is Gita Gopinath who is the first female Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund. Considering she is born and raised in India, I am surprised by how little she is spoken about and how little everyone knows about her. However the more I read about her, the more I was in awe of Gita and I need you guys to know more about her too. So here are the 5 things you need to know about Gita Gopinath,
1. Gita Gopinath’s Early Life And Education
Gita Gopinath was born on December 8, 1971, to a Malayali family in Kolkata. According to Wikipedia, she is the younger of 2 daughters and her family is related to A.K. Gopalan. She studied at the Nirmala Convent School in Mysore and got her B.A. from Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi. She got her first M.A. from the Delhi School of Economics in 1994. She completed her second M.A. from the University of Washington in 1996. She got her PhD in economics from Princeton University in 2001. She completed a doctoral dissertation titled “Three essays on international capital flows: a search theoretic approach,” under the mentorship of Ben Bernanke and Kenneth Rogoff. Damn!
2. Gita Gopinath’s Career
After earning her PhD, Gita joined the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business as an assistant professor. In October 2018, Gita was appointed as the first female and Indian-born chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. She is also all set to be the new First Deputy Managing Director and second in command for the IMF. She is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics at Harvard. Whew!
3. Gita Gopinath As An Advisor
Gita Gopinath was the economic advisor for the CM of Kerala between 2016 and 2018. She is also on the economic advisory panel for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She was also a member of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group on G-20 Matters for the Ministry of Finance in India.
Also Read: Gita Gopinath Is IMF’s First Woman Chief Economist And We Are So Proud
4. Gita Gopinath’s Awards And Recognitions
She was recognised as the Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011. She was also listed as the top 25 economists under 45 by the International Monetary Fund in 2014. Gopinath was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by Ram Nath Kovind, the highest honour for a person of Indian origin.
5. Gita Gopinath Talks About Indian Economics
Gita Gopinath is the first female chief economist to be appointed by the International Monetary Fund. She has also openly spoken about controversial farm laws and how the government can do more to support the economy.
Might I add, what I have listed above isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. Gita Gopinath has a lot of feathers in her cap and these are just a few of them. Not only is she a woman I am proud of but someone young girls can look up to. And not only young girls but I believe women of all generations can look up to her, I know I do.
