Berkley Center

Robert Calderisi is an expert and author on international aid and development, including Earthly Mission: The Catholic Church and World Development (2013). After a 24 year career at the World Bank, he published The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn’t Working in 2006, chosen by the Economist as one of the best books of the year. He has since lectured widely on aid, development, and Africa and was a member of the Danish prime minister’s Africa Commission. Calderisi's positions at the World Bank included country director for Central Africa (2000-2002), international spokesman on Africa (1997-2000), head of the regional mission in Western Africa (1991-1994), and country division chief for Indonesia and the South Pacific (1987-1989). During the 1970s he also served at the OECD, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the Canadian Department of Finance. A Quebec Rhodes Scholar, Calderisi studied history at Loyola College in Montreal and economics at Oxford, Sussex, and London.