Ali Cheema is a Lead Academic for IGC Pakistan.
Ali Cheema is the Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and serves as the co-lead academic of the International Growth Centre’s Pakistan programme. His research focuses on the political economy of governance, development, and gender, utilizing a blend of experimental methods and qualitative analysis. He explores how political and economic inequality impacts representation, fiscal equity, and development, as well as the determinants of citizen trust. His work also examines gender norms and violence as barriers to women's political and civic participation. Dr. Cheema's recent publications have appeared in esteemed journals, including the Journal of Political Economy, American Political Science Review, Science, and PS: Political Science & Politics.
In addition to his academic roles, Dr. Cheema has held senior policy positions at both federal and provincial levels. He was a technical member of the National Finance Commission of Pakistan, a constitutional body responsible for federal fiscal allocations, and currently serves on the Board of the State Bank of Pakistan. He was also a founding member of the Relief Information System for Earthquakes Pakistan (RISEPAK), which received the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award in 2006. Dr. Cheema is a Rhodes Scholar, he earned his BA (Honors) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford, and a BA in Mathematics and Statistics from Government College, Lahore. He completed his MPhil in the Economics and Politics of Development and holds a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
