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Konstantin Sonin

John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor

Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago

Konstantin Sonin is John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and Faculty Affiliate of The Pearson Institute. His research interests include political economics, development, and economic theory. His papers have been published in leading academic journals in economics and political science.

In addition to his academic work, Sonin writes a blog on Russian political and economic issues and a fortnightly column for the Russian-language newspaper Vedomosti, and contributes to all major Russian media. In 2012, he was an Economic Advisor to the presidential campaign of Mikhail Prokhorov.

Sonin earned an MSc and PhD in mathematics from Moscow State University and an MA in economics at Moscow’s New Economic School, was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, served on the faculty of the New Economic School (NES) and Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, and was also a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

As an NES and then HSE Vice-Rector, Sonin was a Founder of the HSE-NES joint undergraduate program, and oversaw HSE international recruitment effort in 15 disciplines. Now he is affiliated with HSE and Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics as a Visiting Professor and Adviser.

Baidoa, Somalia

Makeshift, temporary shelter made of plastic and clothing at a refugee center in Baidoa, Somalia.