Eduardo Velez has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Illinois. His field of study was Applied Social Statistics. His areas of interest include Sociology of Social and Economic Development, Economics of Education, and Analysis and Evaluation of Development Programs.

Dr. Velez had a long trajectory at the World Bank in Washington D.C., Mexico City and in Beijing.  He was Education Sector Manager for East Asia and the Pacific, and Education Sector Manager for Latin American and the Caribbean; Sector Coordinator (Human Development) for the China program; Sector Leader (Human and Social Development for Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela); and Human Development Cluster Leader for Uganda and Tanzania.  He also served as Principal Education Specialist for Eastern and Southern Africa.  Before joining the World Bank, Dr. Velez was Adjunct Director at Instituto Ser de Investigación in Bogotá, Colombia, his country of origin.

Dr. Velez has written extensively on the subjects of Economics, Education, Development and Sociology (has published nine books and near 100 articles in professional journals or as chapters in books, and research reports).

In Fall 2019, Dr. Velez will be lecturing in September at Beijing Normal University on Assessment Systems in Education and on ICT in education; and will be offering a seminar on Economics of Education at Kobe University from October to December.