Esther Duflo, co-founder and co-director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), professor at MIT and Nobel laureate in economics, will resume teaching at the College de France in January, where she holds the chair of poverty and public policies. Duflo's return to France is actively encouraged by French institutions and government officials including President Emmanuel Macron, who was actively involved in campaigning for her return.
Esther will also chair development methodologies at the Paris School of Economics, whose co-founder, the late Daniel Cohen, was an inspiration for Duflo's career path. The chair is financed by the French Development Agency and will be co-directed alongside Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, who is also the co-founder and co-director of J-PAL.