GMF Senior Program Officer Jonathan M. White has been appointed a founding member of the Scientific Advisory Board on EU development policy by European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs.

The board was established to ensure that EU development policies are based on the best available scientific evidence and to form a closer link between policy formulation and implementation, leading academics, and the development commissioner.

The board will meet twice a year in Brussels and comprise a small group of core academics with a broad and comprehensive overview of development issues, to be complemented by a number of rotating academics with specific sectoral expertise. Initial discussions will focus on increasing and sustaining agricultural production for the benefit of countries in the Horn of Africa, and reaching the goal of universal access to modern energy services in a sustainable manner.

The board will be launched on February 15, 2012.

Jonathan White joined the GMF Economic Policy Program in 2006 and developed and launched the organization’s Aid Effectiveness Project. Prior to joining GMF, he advised governments and formulated economic, business climate and industry-specific assessments that helped guide policy. His research has been presented at the World Trade Organization, the OECD, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.