Science & invention / Politics
Jeffrey Sachs
born 1954 · economist, public policy analyst
Economist and longtime United Nations adviser on poverty and sustainable development, born in Detroit and raised in suburban Oak Park.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 71- Birth name
- Jeffrey David Sachs
- Detroit years
- 1954–1972
- Field
- Science & invention, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Sachs was born in Detroit in 1954 and grew up in Oak Park, an inner-ring suburb just north of the city line. After graduating from Oak Park High School he went to Harvard, where he earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate and became a full professor while still in his late twenties. In the mid-1980s he advised Bolivia on ending hyperinflation, and after 1989 he helped design Poland's rapid move to a market economy, often called shock therapy. He then turned to global poverty and public health: he directed the UN Millennium Project, advised the UN Secretary-General from 2002 to 2018 and led Columbia University's Earth Institute. His best-known book is The End of Poverty (2005). His recent statements on the origins of COVID-19 and on the war in Ukraine have drawn wide criticism.
Highlights
- Special adviser to the UN Secretary-General, 2002–2018
- Director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, 2002–2016
- Author of The End of Poverty (2005)
- Graduate of Oak Park High School, Oak Park, Michigan
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · early 1970s
Oak Park High School
The suburban high school he graduated from before leaving for Harvard.