Dr. Tarik M. Yousef is the founding Dean of the Dubai School of Government. He joined the School from Georgetown University, where held the positions of Associate Professor of Economics in the School of Foreign Service, and Sheikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah Professor of Arab Studies at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

A leading authority on the economies of the Arab world, he received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University with specialization in development economics and economic history. His current research interests include the dynamics of labor markets, the political economy of policy reform, and development policies in oil-exporting countries.

Dr. Yousef's research and policy experience includes working as an economist at the Middle East Department of the International Monetary Fund, as Visiting Professor in the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank, and as Senior Advisor for the Millennium Project at the United Nations. At present, he is a Senior Fellow in the Wolfensohn Center for Development at the Brookings Institution and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.