Dr. Zamir Iqbal works as Principal Financial Officer with the Quantitative Strategies, Risk and Analytics department in the Treasury of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. He earned his Ph.D. in international finance from the George Washington University where he also serves as adjunct faculty of international finance. He has published several articles on Islamic finance in reputed journals and has presented papers at international forums. He has extensive experience with capital markets, exotic derivative products, risk management, financial sector development, and financial modeling. His research interests include Islamic finance, financial engineering, structured finance and international banking.

Dr. Abbas Mirakhor, born in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, attended Kansas State University, where he received his Ph,D. in economics in 1969. From 1969 to 1984, he taught in various universities in the U.S. and Iran. From 1984 until 1990, he served on the staff of the IMF, and from 1990 to present, he has been the Executive Director for Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia. Dr. Mirakhor is the co-editor of Essays on Iqtisad: Islamic Approach to Economic Problems (1989), and Theoretical Studies in Islamic Banking and Finance (1987). He has received several awards including "Order of Companion of Volta" for service to Ghana, conferred by the President of Ghana in 2005; Islamic Development Bank Annual Prize for Research in Islamic economics, shared with Mohsin Khan in 2003, and "Quaid-e Azam" star for service to Pakistan, conferred by the President of Pakistan in 1997.