Jan Willem Gunning is professor of development economics and board member of the Amsterdam Institute for International Development (AIID). Previously he was professor at the University of Oxford where he directed the Centre for the Study of African Economies. He has also been a staff member of the World Bank in Washington DC.

His research interests include impact evaluation, changes in poverty, and the effect of risk on growth in rural societies.

He holds an honorary doctorate of the University of Auvergne (France), awarded for his leading role in economic research on Africa, and is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).