Author: Hossein Askari

PROF. HOSSEIN ASKARI received all his university education, including a Ph.D. in economics, at MIT. He has taught at MIT, Tufts University, the University of Texas at Austin and is now the Iran Professor of International Business and International Affairs atthe George Washington University. He served for two and a halfyears on the Executive Board of the IMF and was Special Advisor tothe Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia. In the mid-1980s he wasthe director of a multinational team that developed the firstenergy plan and energy planning models for Saudi Arabia. He haswritten extensively on economic development in the Middle East, international trade and finance, agricultural economics, oileconomics, economic sanctions, and on Islamic economics andfinance. DR. ZAMIR IQBAL works as Lead Investment Officer in the Treasury of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He earned his Ph.D.in International Finance from the George Washington University, where he also serves as adjunct faculty of International Finance.He has extensive experience with capital markets, structuredproducts, risk management, financial sector development, andfinancial modeling. His research interests include Islamic finance, financial engineering, structured finance and risk management. Heis co-author of several books on Islamic banking and finance. DR. NOUREDDINE KRICHENE received his Ph.D. in economics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1980; joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1986; and held the position ofadvisor at the Islamic Development Bank. DR. ABBAS MIRAKHOR received his Ph.D. in Economics from Kansas State University in 1969. After teaching at variousuniversities in the USA and in Iran he joined the staff of the Research Department of the IMF in 1984. He became an Executive Director of the IMF from 1990 until his retirement in 2008. He isthe author of a number of articles and books on Islamic economicsand finance. He is now the first holder of the INCEIF Chair in Islamic Finance.