Grzegorz Witold Kołodko (pronounced ; born 28 January 1949) is a distinguished professor of economics and a key architect of Polish economic reforms. He is the author of New Pragmatism, an original and heterodox theory of economics. He has been a university lecturer, researcher, and author of numerous academic books and research papers. As Deputy Premier and
Minister of Finance of Poland
Poland's Ministry of Finance ( ), headed by the Minister of Finance ''(Minister Finansów)'', is part of the government of Poland. Among its powers and responsibilities it drafts the national budget, deals with taxes, financing of the local self ...
from 2002 to 2003, he played a leading role in Poland's entry into the European Union. During his earlier term from 1994 to 1997, Kołodko led Poland into the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
.
He is the founder and director of TIGER – Transformation, Integration, and Globalization Economic Research at Kozminski University in Warsaw. He has served as a consultant to international organizations such as the
IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...
,
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...
, and the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...
. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the
Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies
The Renmin University of China (RUC) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The ...
,
Renmin University of China
The Renmin University of China (RUC) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The ...
in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
Wuhan
Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...
, and a distinguished professor at the Emerging Markets Institute,
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University (BNU) () is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the B ...
, Beijing.
Biography
After graduating from Main School of Planning and Statistics in 1972 and earning his Ph.D. in 1976, Kołodko lectured at the same university and was appointed to a chair in economics in 1984. In 1985-86, he was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. From 1982 to 1988, he was an advisor to the Governor of the National Bank of Poland. He participated in the historic ‘Round Table’ negotiations in 1989, which led to the formation of the first post-communist government in Eastern Europe. He was a member of the Economic Council of the Polish Government from 1989 to 1991.
He was a research fellow at the United Nations
World Institute for Development Economics Research
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) is part of the United Nations University (UNU). UNU-WIDER, the first research and training centre to be established by the UNU, is an international academ ...
(WIDER) in Helsinki in 1988, 1989, and 2002. From 1989 to 1994, he was the director of the Institute of Finance in Warsaw. He served as a consultant to the IMF Research Department in 1991 and 2000, and to the Fiscal Policy Department in 1992 and 1999. In 1994, he was a senior research fellow at the Institute of Finance and Monetary Policy in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. From 1997 to 1998, he held the Sasakawa Chair and was a distinguished research professor in development policy at WIDER. He was also a visiting fellow at the World Bank and a senior research fellow at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1998.
Kołodko is the author and editor of 58 books and over 400 articles and research papers, published in 26 languages, with many in English. Notable books include “The Quest for Development Success: Bridging Theoretical Reasoning with Economic Practice” (Rowman & Littlefield - Lexington Books, 2021), “China and the Future of Globalization: The Political Economy of China's Rise” (Bloomsbury I.B. Tauris, 2020), and “Emerging Market Economies. Globalization and Development” (Routledge Revivals, 2018).
He has taught courses and seminars at
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
,
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
,
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
, and the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
. He has led research projects and lectured globally.
Awards
Kołodko has received numerous awards for his research and teaching activities. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by
Lviv University
The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko.
The university is the oldest institution of highe ...
Chengdu
Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in 2009,
University of Debrecen
The University of Debrecen ( ) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its establishment in 1538. The university has a well established progra ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
, in 2004,
Nankai University
Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction.
Nankai University was establ ...
,
Tianjin
Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, in 2014. In 2020, he received the Special Book Award of China. He was nominated as the Best Minister of Finance in East Central Europe by
Euromoney
''Euromoney'' is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. First published in 1969, it is the flagship production of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc.
History and profile
''Euromoney'' was first published in 19 ...
President of Poland
The president of Poland ( ), officially the president of the Republic of Poland (), is the head of state of Poland. His or her prerogatives and duties are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president jointly exercises the executive ...
in 1997 for his achievements in managing transformation and development policy.