Beninese Professor Léonard Wantchekon has been appointed by the UN Secretary-General to a high-level expert group tasked with developing new development indicators that go “beyond GDP.” This mission aims to integrate dimensions such as well-being, equality, and sustainability into the measurement of global economic progress.

A former political refugee turned internationally renowned academic, Léonard Wantchekon is now a professor at Princeton and founder of the African School of Economics (ASE), an institution dedicated to training Africa’s intellectual elite. His academic career took him from Université Laval to the University of British Columbia, then to Northwestern, where he completed a doctorate under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Roger Myerson.

A specialist in political economy, economic history, and development, Wantchekon has taught at Yale, New York University, and since 2011 at Princeton. This appointment crowns a career dedicated to rigorous research and the transformation of public policies in Africa.