The World Bank is adding Nobel laureate Michael Kremer as its Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, a hire that shifts the institution’s emphasis toward research-led policy and data-driven interventions. The bank announced the appointment on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, and said Kremer’s role will take effect on October 1, 2026.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga named Kremer to head the bank’s research, data and analytical agenda at a moment the institution frames as one requiring bolder development solutions. Kremer succeeds Indermit Gill, who served as chief economist from September 2022 for four years and left the World Bank in late August.
Kremer joins the bank from the University of Chicago, where he is a University Professor and director of the Development Innovation Lab. He holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and was jointly awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics with Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo for their experimental approach to reducing global poverty.
The World Bank highlighted Kremer’s track record of translating rigorous research into large-scale programmes, citing work that expanded vaccine access, advanced school health initiatives and supported smallholder farmers. The institution said it is strengthening the link between knowledge and impact so that research and data more directly shape policy, scalable solutions across public and private sectors, and the bank’s investments and partnerships.
Kremer is the first economist appointed to the World Bank who already holds a Nobel Prize; previous chief economists who won the prize, such as Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Romer, received it after their tenures. The bank said the appointment aligns with its continued focus on research, evidence, job creation, private capital and solutions that can be scaled globally.
Kremer will formally assume his new duties on October 1, 2026, when he will begin directing the World Bank’s research priorities and analytical programmes. The bank’s next steps will be watched by partners and governments that rely on its evidence base to design investments and policies.
