Dr. Just Faaland, a Norwegian economist who was IFPRI’s Director General from 1990-1992, died on Feb. 17.  “He skillfully guided us through important changes, and stabilized and strengthened IFPRI with his visionary and caring leadership,” Director General Shenggen Fan said.

Born in Tromsø on January 25, 1922, Faaland grew up in Oslo and was educated at the University of Oslo and Oxford University in mathematics and economics. He held many prominent positions in the world of development economics, including President of the OECD Development Centre in Paris, the World Bank Representative in Bangladesh, and Economic Consultant to the United Nations and its agencies. Faaland was well known for his work in Malaysia, where he was an architect of that country’s New Economic Policy (NEP) in the 1970s.