Ismaïl Serageldin obtained his Bachelor of Science from Cairo University and a doctorate from Harvard University. He has also been awarded twenty-nine honorary doctorates. A prolific author, the economist has published more than sixty books and over two hundred articles and reports on subjects such as biotechnology, rural development, sustainable development and the usefulness of science for society. He is particularly committed to exploring the possibilities for combating poverty and hunger in the world.

As soon as he joined the World Bank, he championed continuing, primary and girls’ education. Concerned about labour migration issues, he devised analytical grids that gave a sociopolitical dimension to this societal issue. In the 1980s, his work was decisive in the World Bank’s decision to take into account the fight against poverty and gender discrimination.

Ismaïl Serageldin is a director or board member of a number of international academic and scientific institutions, including the Egyptian Institute, the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, the Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Third Word Academy of Science and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He co-chairs the African Biotechnology Panel and is also a member of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.

Considered one of Egypt’s most brilliant minds, this highly knowledgeable man is the director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the library of the Mediterranean world, and the seven research institutes and museums affiliated to it. He has therefore relinquished all his former international responsibilities. Driven by the dream of resurrecting the Library of Alexandria, he has succeeded in making the Bibliotheca Alexandrina a pioneering institution in the digital age, a point of mutual exchange in the world, a promoter of science and technology, and an initiator of reforms in the Arab region.