PROF. HOSSEIN ASKARI received a B.S. in Civil Engineering, Ph.D. in Economics and attended the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was an Instructor of Economics at MIT, Assistant Professor of Economics at Tufts University, Associate Professor of Economics at Wayne State University, Associate Professor and Professor of International Business and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and is now the Iran Professor of International Business and Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University. He served for two and a half years on the Executive Board of the IMF and was Special Advisor to the Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia. In the mid-1980s, he was the director of a multinational team that developed the first energy planning models for Saudi Arabia. He has written extensively on economic development in the Middle East, international trade and finance, agricultural economics, oil economics, and on economic sanctions. He has been an advisor to a number of governments, institutions and corporations.

DR. ZAMIR IQBAL works as Lead Investment 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 numerous articles and presented at international forums on Islamic finance. He has extensive experience with capital markets, structured products, risk management, financial sector development, and financial modeling. His research interests include Islamic Finance, Financial Engineering, Structured Finance and International Banking. He is co-author of Introduction to Islamic Finance: Theory and Practice (2007), Risk Analysis for Islamic Banks (2007), and New Issues in Islamic Finance and Economics: Progress and Challenges (2009).

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 2008, he served as the Executive Director at the IMF. Currently, he is The First Holder of International Center For Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) Chair of Islamic Finance. 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 Moshin Khan in 2003, and “Quaid-e Azam” star for service to Pakistan conferred by the President of Pakistan in 1997. Dr. Mirakhor is the co-author of Essays on Iqtisad: Islamic Approach to Economic Problems (1989), Theoretical Studies in Islamic Banking and Finance (1987), Introduction to Islamic Finance: Theory and Practice (2007), and New Issues in Islamic Finance and Economics: Progress and
Challenges (2009).