Dr Ali Cheema is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS).
He also serves as the Faculty Director of the Mahbub Ul Haq Research Centre at LUMS, and is a co-founder of the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP). In addition, he is a co-lead academic of the International Growth Center’s Pakistan programme, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Development Studies, and a former Chair of the Economics Department at LUMS from 2004-2010. Dr. Cheema has extensive experience in research and policy work in the field of economics. He co-convened the Initiative of Policy Dialogue (IPD), Columbia University, Taskforce on Decentralization and was one of the founding members of the Stockholm Challenge Award winning portal, Relief Information System for Earthquakes, Pakistan (RISEPAK). He has recently worked as a consultant to the Asian Development Bank, DFID and the World Bank and has served on high level provincial and federal government taskforces and committees.
Dr. Cheema holds a BA (Honors) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford, and a BA in Mathematics and Statistics from Government College, Lahore. He received his MPhil in Economics and Politics of Development, and a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Cambridge.