Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Universidad de los Andes

Expert Bio

Daniel Mejia is currently an associate professor at the Department of Economics at the Universidad de los Andes. He received a B.A. and M.A. in Economics from Universidad de los Andes and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University. Between 2018 and May 2019, he was Director of Institutional Policy and Strategy of the Attorney General's Office of the Nation, and between January 2016 and May 2018 he was Secretary of Security, Coexistence and Justice of Bogotá. Before his time in the public sector, he was associate professor and Director of the Center for Studies on Security and Drugs (CESED) of the Faculty of Economics of the Universidad de los Andes, between 2007 and 2015. His academic works on citizen security and anti-drug policy have been published in various international academic journals and has received several academic awards such as the Germán Botero de los Ríos de Fedesarrollo research award in 2009 for his research on the effectiveness of anti-drug policies in Colombia and the Juan Luis Londoño award, awarded every two years to the Colombian aged 40 years or less who deserves recognition for their contributions in the research, design or implementation of public policies that lead to improving the well-being of Colombians. Also, in October 2015, Daniel was chosen by the Leadership and Democracy Foundation and Semana Magazine as one of the 20 most important leaders in the country for his contributions to the security and drug policy debates in the country.

Between 2011 and 2012 Daniel Mejía was part of the Criminal Policy Advisory Commission, convened by the Ministry of Justice and Law. Between 2013 and 2015, Daniel Mejia chaired the Advisory Commission for Drug Policy of the Colombian Government and was an advisor to the Minister of Defense on citizen security issues.