Professor Dr. Selim Jahan is a distinguished former Director of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York.
He also served as the Lead Author of the global Human Development Report (HDR).
Between 2014 and 2018, he held this role while previously served senior positions within UNDP, including as Director of the Poverty Division.
Dr. Jahan was part of the Core Team that contributed to nine global Human Development Reports (1993-2001) and was involved in preparing several National Human Development Reports (NHDRs),
notably the inaugural NHDR for Bangladesh in 1991.
Before joining UNDP in 1992, Dr. Jahan worked in academia, national governments, and international organizations.
He was a Professor of Economics and Director of the Bureau of Economic Research at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh (1984–1992); Economic Adviser,
Planning Commission, Government of Bangladesh (1989–1990); Visiting Scholar, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, U.S.A (1992); and Lecturer, Department of Economics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1983–1984).
He has also worked as Adviser and Consultant to various international organizations including ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank during the 1980s and the early 1990s. From 1991 to 1992, he held the position of Secretary General of the Bangladesh Economics Association.
Dr. Jahan earned a Ph.D. with distinction in Economics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He also holds an M.A. and a B.A. in Economics, both with First Class honors, from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A prolific author, he has published 12 books and over 150 articles in various national and international academic journals.