Shanta Devarajan, Professor of the practice of international development at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, LGB 1971

Shanta Devarajan

La Grande Boissière, 1971 (first International Baccalaureate graduating class)

Professor of the practice of international development at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service

USA

Find more about me:

• Georgetown’s information page here

If I could, I would spend more years at Ecolint. The one year there was one of the best years of my life.

I am a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. I teach International Development, the subject I have been working on over the last 45 years. I also advise some countries on economic policy, most recently Sri Lanka, the country of my birth. I live in Washington, DC with my wife, Nancy Benjamin. We have two adult daughters.

Mr. Melnick’s English class stands out. We were asked to debate the question, “Do the ends justify the means?”  We were divided into two groups and each group had to make the best possible case for their side. The discussion got so heated that people would stand up and bang their fists on the table. Mr. Melnick encouraged us to sharpen our arguments and find the holes in the other side’s arguments. This question remains relevant today. Whenever it comes up, I think of that day at Ecolint.

There are so many memories of Ecolint but one particular session in Mr. Melnick’s English class stands out. We were asked to debate the question, “Do the ends justify the means?”  We were divided into two groups and each group had to make the best possible case for their side. The discussion got so heated that people would stand up and bang their fists on the table. Mr. Melnick encouraged us to sharpen our arguments and find the holes in the other side’s arguments. This question remains relevant today. Whenever it comes up, I think of that day at Ecolint.

My experience at Ecolint first gave me a solid academic foundation—I went on to do a bachelor’s in mathematics and a Ph.D. in economics. It also made me completely at ease in, and yearn for, an international environment (I had spent the previous seven years at the U.N. International School in New York). As a result, I spent 28 years at the World Bank before returning to academics at Georgetown.

If I could, I would spend more years at Ecolint. The one year there was one of the best years of my life.

My words of wisdom for Ecolint students: having spent most of my career working on developing countries, I am convinced that we can reduce poverty by empowering poor people with knowledge, so they can hold policymakers accountable. I would encourage Ecolint students to think about how they can use the education they are getting to help poor people in this way.

I really haven’t thought about my legacy.  Check back with me in a few years.