Jeffrey David Sachs is and American economist. He is known for his work as an economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa. Sachs is author or coauthor of more than two hundred scholarly articles, has written or edited many books, and is the recipient of many awards and honors.
Sachs is also known for his work with international agencies on problems of poverty reduction, debt cancellation, and disease control, especially HIV/AIDS, for the developing world. He is repeatedly ranked among the world’s most influential people by “Time” magazine. He is also director of the UN Millennium Project and special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed-upon goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015.
Sachs is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has been an adviser to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Development Program, among other international agencies. He is currently a professor and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Source - Columbia University
http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/bio_sachs.html