Kaushik Basu, PhD
Economic and Financial Policy Advisor
Former Senior Vice President & Chief Economist of the World Bank
President of the International Economic Association
Email: kb40@cornell.edu
(Please cc rt483@cornell.edu at the same time)
Basu received his PhD and M.Sc (Econ) from the London School of Economics and BA (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He has received honorary doctorates from several institutes and universities, including IIT Bombay, Fordham University New York, and the University of Bath U.K.
Kaushik Basu has published widely in the areas of Development Economics, Industrial Organization, Game Theory and Welfare Economics. His two most recent books are An Economist in the Real World: The Art of Policymaking in India (MIT Press and Penguin Random House, 2015) and The Republic of Beliefs: A New Approach to Law and Economics (Princeton University Press, 2018). His books have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Russian and French.
Professor Basu has contributed popular articles to magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times, Scientific American, India Today, Business Standard and BBC News Online.
In May 2008 he was awarded one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, by the President of India. Kaushik Basu has held visiting positions at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and the London School of Economics, Harvard University, Princeton University and M.I.T. He was Professor of Economics at the Delhi School of Economics, where in 1992 he founded the Centre for Development Economics and was its first Executive Director. He is also a founding member of the Madras School of Economics.
Ahmad Maaty, MPA
Governance and Politics Advisor
Senior Economist with the U.S. Department of Justice
Chair and co-founder of Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS)
Email: chair@mapsnational.org
Ahmad Maaty currently serves as a Senior Economist with the U.S. Department of Justice, developing Federal regulations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He worked in a similar regulatory capacity at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including as Acting Chief Economist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He also deployed as an Inter-Governmental Affairs Specialist during FEMA emergency responses to disaster declarations in Texas and Puerto Rico.
Previously, Ahmad served as a Franklin Fellow with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, helping craft State and USAID’s economic growth budget and strategy, liaising with the White House National Security Council on bi-lateral investment opportunities. Ahmad first joined State ten years earlier, helping cover the Middle East portfolio before the United Nations Security Council for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, before consulting with the World Bank and UNDP on operations evaluation.
Ahmad is also Chair and co-founder of Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS), whose mission is to support the career, workplace, and community development of Muslim American public servants. He earned his MPA from Cornell University in 2006.
Rebecca Morgenstern Brenner
Environmental Policy Advisor
Email: rebecca.brenner@cornell.edu
Rebecca Morgenstern Brenner, MPA is a Senior Lecturer in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University with additional collaborations as a Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Faculty Fellow, Faculty Fellow in the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, and Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies Faculty Associate. Rebecca is co-lead for the FEMA’s Higher Education Service-Learning and Leadership Special Interest Group. Rebecca teaches courses on environmental policy, environmental justice, vulnerability and resilience, disaster policy, and project management. Rebecca’s research and practice focus on translating values into practice and policy and working with communities to reduce vulnerability and build resilience. To do this, Rebecca collaborates with international and domestic partners to build innovative approaches that address and improve social and environmental conditions. Her current research and practice include managed retreat and equity, environmental justice, bridging policy with science, and building disaster resilience with vulnerable communities.
Danielle Eiseman, PhD
Environmental Policy Advisor
Email: dle58@cornell.edu
Danielle Eiseman is an expert in pro-environmental behavior change and outreach. Danielle has worked in international climate and energy policy for over 15 years, with experience in public engagement, climate literacy, and sustainable marketing. Danielle’s current research is focused on modeling climate impacts on the local food system and how food access is affected. She is also the leader of the Tompkins County Manufactured Housing Working Group, where she is working with local policymakers to address climate risk and vulnerability among manufactured housing residents. Danielle is also co-PI on the Layers of Life ice cream project, which uses ice cream to explore how food might spark public curiosity in science and climate change.
Danielle has represented Cornell at the United Nations Conference of Parties 23 in Bonn, Germany, COP 24 in Katowice, Poland, the Subsidiary Body Meeting (SB50) in Bonn, Germany, and the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture Annual forum at the FAO in Rome, Italy. Danielle also serves as a communications specialist for the Cornell Emergent Climate Risk Lab and has led the development of a risk communication training program for New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
Eiseman received her Ph.D. from Heriot-Watt University in Consumer Behaviour and Sustainability. She received her MSc in Carbon Management from the University of Edinburgh and an MS in Economics from DePaul University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Miami University.