MIDP Faculty
One of the most distinctive features of the MIDP Program is the direct engagement of our world-class research faculty who teach in our core program classes, a reflection of the commitment of the McCourt School’s development studies faculty to this unique program.
Of course, when core faculty are not available for specific courses, we tap into the community of like-minded organizations to find highly experienced adjunct faculty who can cover the material appropriately, even while providing our students with valuable exposure to external development institutions. But the direct access that MIDP students have to McCourt’s development faculty through their core coursework is truly unique.
Because teaching assignments can change, the McCourt School cannot state with certainty who will be teaching any course in future semesters. That said, the MIDP Program has had considerable stability in teaching assignments in the past, and this can be seen in our plans for the coming year:
Core Economics Classes
- “Intermediate Microeconomics for Development” has been taught for many years by Professor Nada Eissa, who has worked at the IMF and the US Department of Treasury and has a PhD in economics from Harvard University.
- “Public Finance in Developing Countries” has been taught each of the past three years by Professor Jishnu Das, who joined our faculty in 2019. Jishnu’s work focuses on health and education across multiple countries. His research has led to the widespread adoption of a training program for informal providers (in West Bengal), health facility inspections (in Kenya), networks for private sector providers (in India), the scale-up of quality measurement tools in health (global) and the development of financial products for private schools (global). He holds degrees in economics from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi), University of Cambridge (U.K.) and Harvard University (USA).
- “Social and Economic Development Policy” will be taught by Professor Andrew Zeitlin. Andrew holds a PhD in economics from Oxford University, and he works on questions of state effectiveness, including public-sector incentives and the design of social protection programs, with a focus on East Africa. He was on leave in 2022, when the course was taught by Dr. Eeshani Kandpal, a Senior Economist in the Development Research Group at The World Bank.
- “Sustainable Development” has been taught every year by Professor Franck Wiebe, the faculty director of the MIDP Program and the former Chief Economist of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and The Asia Foundation. Franck holds a PhD in development economics from Stanford University.
Core Quantitative Methods Classes
- “Statistical Methods for Development Policy” (Quant I) has been taught every year by Professor Wiebe.
- “Regression Methods for Development Policy”(Quant II) has been taught every year by Professor James Habyarimana, the co-founder of gui2de. James’ work focuses on education, health policy and political economy. His research projects include understanding the role of ethnicity in social interactions (Uganda), testing and scaling of a low-cost road safety intervention (Kenya), an evaluation of an at-scale school inspection program (Tanzania) and measuring the productivity impacts of HIV treatment in a large firm (Botswana). He holds degrees in Civil Engineering and Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.
- “Impact Evaluation for Development” (Quant III) will be taught by Professor Jishnu Das for the third straight year. In previous years, the course was taught by Professor Jacobus Cilliers (more about him below) and Dr. and Dr. Kate Ambler, a Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade and Institutions Division at IFPRI.
Management & Institutions
- “Management and Leadership in Developing Countries” is taught by Bhumi Purohit, who holds her PhD in Political Science from U.C. Berkeley and whose work has focused on bureaucratic performance and sources of bureaucratic resistance. She also worked as a J-PAL policy consultant for the Ministry of Rural Development in India to create policy implementation plans for financial management reforms and rural poverty reduction.
- “Political Economy in Developing Countries” will be taught again by Professor Jen Tobin, who earned her PhD in Political Science from Yale University. Professor Tobin has worked at the Brookings Institution, the World Bank, and Oxford University and has worked with microfinance institutions in Uganda, Haiti and Mexico.
- “Ethical Issues in Development” is usually taught by Professor Karen Huang, who earned her PhD from Harvard University, but she will not be available in 2024-2025. In Spring 2025, the course will be taught by Dr. Chloe Schwenke, who earned her PhD in Policy Studies from the University of Maryland. Dr. Schwenke is an international development ethicist, practitioner, human rights activist, researcher, and educator. She is the President of the Center for Values in International Development and served as Senior Advisor on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa for USAID.
The Client-Capstone
- A two-semester course during the second year that has been taught for the past nine years by Professor Jacobus Cilliers (who has also taught Quant III in the past). Jacobus is originally from South Africa and earned his Ph.D. in economics from Oxford University. Before joining the faculty, Jacobus was a consultant to the Education Global Practice at The World Bank, where he ran multiple training programs on the design of Impact Evaluations and consulted with the Tanzanian and Nigerian governments on education reform in the private sector.
Full Time MIDP Faculty
Associate Teaching Professor
Distinguished Professor
Associate Professor
Distinguished Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Teaching Professor
Associate Professor
Professor of the Practice of Public Policy
Associate Professor