WASHINGTON– Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will leave her post in August 2025 to rejoin Harvard University as the inaugural Gregory and Ania Coffey Professor of Economics, the IMF announced Monday.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva confirmed Gopinath’s departure and said a successor will be named “in due course.”
Gopinath joined the Fund in 2019 as chief economist, becoming the first woman to hold that position. She was promoted in January 2022 to first deputy managing director—the IMF’s second‑highest post—and helped steer the global economy through the COVID‑19 pandemic, supply‑chain disruptions, and mounting debt stress in developing countries.
“After nearly seven amazing years at the IMF, I have decided to return to my academic roots,” Gopinath wrote on X. “On September 1, 2025, I will rejoin Harvard as the inaugural Gregory and Ania Coffey Professor of Economics. I am truly grateful for my time at the IMF, first as chief economist and then as first deputy managing director.”
She added that she had “the privilege of working closely with the IMF’s brilliant and committed staff, colleagues in management, the Executive Board, and country authorities,” and thanked Georgieva and former managing director Christine Lagarde “for the once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity to serve the IMF’s membership during a period of unprecedented challenges.”
Before joining the Fund, Gopinath was the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard. Under her leadership, the IMF helped shape the global response to crises ranging from the pandemic to climate‑finance challenges. (Source: IANS)
