Alan Whiteside was appointed CIGI Chair in Global Health at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in December 2012, with his term beginning in 2013. He is also affiliated with Wilfrid Laurier University’s School of International Policy and Governance.

Born in Kenya but raised in Swaziland, Alan is an internationally recognized academic and AIDS researchers. He holds a B.A. in development studies and an M.A. in development economics, both from the University of East Anglia and a D.Econ. from the University of Natal (KwaZulu-Natal). He began his professional career as an Overseas Development Institute fellow working as a planning officer (economist) in the Ministry of Finance and Development, Gaborone, Botswana from 1980 to 1983. In 1983, he worked as a research fellow in the economic research unit of the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal), and in 1998 he established the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division  where he is the executive director.

In 1990, Whiteside started the AIDS Analysis Africa newsletter; he was the newsletter’s editor until 2002. He is the co-author of numerous articles and books, including AIDS: The Challenge for South Africa; AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalisation and HIV/AIDS: A Very Short Introduction.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015 for services to science and strategic interventions to curb HIV/AIDS.

Alan’s main research interest at present is the economic and development impact of HIV/AIDS. He has carried out training around the world and has worked across of Africa, in Ukraine and parts of Asia. In 2003, he was appointed by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Commission for HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa. Other academic appointments include: Visiting Professor, School of Medicine Liverpool University, Leverhulme Visiting Professor, University of Southampton and Visiting Fellow, University of East Anglia. He was an elected member of the governing council of the International AIDS Society from 2000 to 2012. He is a member of the governing council of Waterford Kamhlaba College.