Alejandro J. Ganimian

Alejandro J. Ganimian is a nonresident fellow with the Center for Universal Education at Brookings. He is a visiting associate professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an associate professor of applied psychology and economics at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

His work seeks to address one of the most pressing challenges for low- and middle-income countries: how to transition from providing schooling for all to learning for all. Despite quick expansion of access to education, schools in these countries are struggling to meet the needs of millions of children who are the first in their families to enroll in formal education. Working in partnership with governments and nonprofits, his research aims to ensure that these “first-generation learners” develop the requisite academic and social-emotional skills to participate in the economy and society. 

He holds a doctorate in quantitative policy analysis in education from Harvard University, where he was a fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy; a master’s in educational research from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar; and a bachelor’s in international politics from Georgetown University. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).

Ganimian is currently a special invitee of the regional offices of J-PAL for Latin America and the Caribbean and South Asia; a member of the Advisory Board of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science, and Culture (OEI); and a member of the CESifo Network on Economics of Education. He has worked as a consultant for multiple international organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and Innovations for Policy Action, among others.