Claudio Loser is Founding Director and Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Latin America. He is a well-known authority on Latin American economies and institutions. During his career at the International Monetary Fund he held many senior positions, including Director of the Western Hemisphere Department. Under his leadership, the Department was actively involved in a wide range of surveillance, technical assistance, and research activities. Recently he has worked closely with the G-24, the Andean Finance Corporation (CAF), the Rio Group of Latin American Cooperation, and with a number of other financial corporations, dealing with developments in Latin America and the evolving relations between these countries and the IMF. He is a Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based forum for opinion leaders and policymakers on Western Hemisphere affairs. He teaches international economics and finance at the George Washington University. He has published in many journals, mostly on Latin American economic issues. He graduated from the University of Cuyo, Argentina and received his Masters of Arts and PhD from the University of Chicago in 1967 and 1971, respectively.