Bahamian Harvard Professor Peter Blair Talks to BARIFA Cohort

Harvard Professor Dr. Peter Blair (front, center) spoke to foreign service officers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Professor Peter Blair, an Economics Professor at Harvard University, as he spoke to the 2024 Bahamas Alrae Ramsey Institute for Foreign Affairs (BARIFA) Cohort

Professor Blair was greeted by Ambassador Jerusa Ali, Director General of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Gilbert Morris, and Ms Krissy Hanna.

After an exciting presentation, Professor Blair asked each member about their dreams. He encouraged them to “pour into each other” and told them “the first step in achieving their dreams is being helpful to the dreams of their fellow Bahamians”.

Peter Q. Blair is on the faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where he co-directs the Project on Workforce. He serves as a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the principal investigator of the BE-Lab — a research group with partners from Harvard University, Clemson University, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His group’s research focuses on the link between the future of work and the future of education, labor market discrimination, occupational licensing, and residential segregation.

Blair received his Ph.D. in applied economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, his M.Sc. in theoretical physics from Harvard University, and his B.Sc. in physics and mathematics from Duke University. He is the youngest of his parents’ seven sons and got his start understanding markets by selling fruit and vegetables in the Bahamas in the Nassau Straw Market with his brothers.