Up & Comer
Name: Pravin Krishna
Age: 35
Position: Joint appointments in
economics at the
Nitze School of
Advanced International Studies and the
Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
Stats: Bachelor of Technology '90 from Indian
Institute of Technology in Bombay; MA '93, MPhil '93, and
PhD '95 in international economics, macroeconomics, and
applied econometrics from Columbia University
Scouting report: It's not just that Krishna is "on
the forefront in his field in international trade theory
and policy," says John Harrington, associate dean for
academic affairs at SAIS. Or that he was one of the
youngest full professors in economics ever at Brown before
SAIS hired him. It's also that he is a wonderful teacher
and a great colleague. "He made an excellent impression on
his students during his first semester at SAIS," says
Harrington, "and he is a delight to work with."
Research: Krishna works on diverse issues in the
areas of international trade and the political economy of
international trade policy. In recent projects, he has
explored how globalization may affect the risk to income
faced by individuals and, separately, the economic and
political determinants of trade policies. His new book,
Trade Blocs: Economics and Politics, due out later
this year from Cambridge University Press, is a collection
of his research on preferential trade blocs (such as
NAFTA).
Mentor: Columbia University economist Jagdish
Bhagwati. Says Krishna, "He has brought scholarly integrity
and insights and has engaged deeply with the world of
policy-making without being intellectually corrupted by
it. In that sense, he was a role-model [when I was at
Columbia] and he remains one today."
Creative outlet: D.J.'s electronic music at parties
and "the occasional gig."
Does he balance his checkbook? "I certainly do not,"
says Krishna.