Gary Sampson

Professor of International Trade

Gary Sampson has both his Undergraduate Degree (Melbourne University) and Doctor of Philosophy (Monash University) in Economics. On completion of his Ph. D. he was awarded a post doctoral research grant from Cambridge University in England. He was appointed Lecturer in 1971 in the Department of Economics and Politics at Monash University where he held a tenured position. After a sabbatical leave spent in Geneva, Switzerland, at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1973, he returned to a position of Senior Lecturer at Monash University.

On leaving Monash University in 1975, he returned to work at UNCTAD in Geneva. He returned to Australia from 1984 to 1986 where he held the joint positions of Senior Fellow in Economic Policy with the Reserve Bank of Australia, and Professorial Fellow at the Centre of Policy Studies, Monash University. In 1987, he was appointed Director at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Geneva, and in 1995, Director at the World Trade Organization (WTO), also in Geneva. He has been director of several Divisions in both these institutions.

From 1999 to 2002 he was on leave from the WTO. During this time, he held the posts of Professor of International Economic Governance at the United Nations University in Tokyo, and Visiting Academic at London School of Economics. He was also Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Business School teaching a course on international trade, and also taught at INSEAD in France where he was an Affiliate Professor.

In 2002 he returned to the WTO and until March 2005 he was Senior Counsellor in the Office of the Director General. During this period, he maintained his Chair at the United Nations University, and continued to teach at both London School of Economics and Melbourne Business School.

He was appointed to the United Nations High Level Advisory Committee for the World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability held in Rio de Janeiro from 1 to 3 June 2012.

Since leaving the WTO in March 2005, Gary Sampson has held the position of John Gough Professor of the Practice of International Trade at Melbourne University, Melbourne Business School. Since 2005 he has also been teaching in the Executive MBA program of London School of Economics (TRIUM EMBA).

In May 2017, he was awarded the Inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award by Monash Business School, Monash University.

He has written extensively in a wide variety of areas and published extensively in both the academic and more popular press.