Nancy Birdsall, the Founding President of the Center for Global Development (CGD) announced that she was stepping down as head of the think tank in 2016, once her successor is in place.
Birdsall, however, will remain as a Senior Fellow at the think tank. She noted that in her new position, she will have more time for research, writing, and collaborating with colleagues. She also said she would have more time and flexibility to travel and enjoy her large and still-growing extended family.
CGD's board chair, former US Treasury Secretary and Harvard University president emeritus Lawrence Summers, will head the search committee to fill Birdstall's spot.
The firm of Russell Reynolds has been engaged to work with the search committee to conduct the global search for Birdsall's successor.
Here is a letter that Birdsall has been circulating about her upcoming departure from the think tank.
CGD was founded in November 2001 by Birdsall, Edward Scott Jr., and C. Fred Bergsten, who was formerly the head of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). Birdsall has been CGD's only president since its founding.
CGD was ranked as the 27th best think tank in the United States by the 2015 University of Pennsylvania think tank rankings. It was also ranked as the world's 10th best international development think tank.
