Kemal Dervis ’73

Body

Kemal died of neurodegenerative disease May 7, 2023, in Bethesda, Md. 

Born Jan. 10, 1949, in Istanbul, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton in 1973.

Kemal worked in various posts for the World Bank for two decades. Between 2002 and 2020, his economic policies set the basis of major economic development in Turkey, where he took the newly created post of minister of the economy. He stayed in the ministry post for a bit more than a year before winning a seat in Parliament. In 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan chose him to lead the United Nations Development Program, becoming the first person to lead the office who was from a country that had received aid from it. Kemal focused on how globalization was affecting poorer populations and spotlighted the expected effects of climate change’s impact on the poor in many countries.

After four years at the United Nations, Kemal joined the Brookings Institution as the director and vice president of the global economy and development program and was a nonresident distinguished fellow. 

Kemal is survived by his wife, Catherine Stachniak; sons Erdal ’94 and Erol; and three grandchildren.

Graduate alumni memorials are prepared by the APGA.

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