Jim O’Neill made honorary professor

THE economist Jim O’Neill has been made honorary professor of economics at The University of Manchester.

Brought up in Gatley, Manchester and a life-long Manchester United fan, he worked for Goldman Sachs Group between 1995 and 2013.

He was chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and the firm’s chief economist from 2001 to 2011. Before joining Goldman Sachs, he was head of global research at Swiss Bank Corp.

Mr O’Neill is well known for coining the term ‘BRIC’ in reference to the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. He has since come up with a new acronym for the latest wave of growing economies – ‘MINT’ – for Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey.

The university’s vice-chancelor professor Dame Nancy Rothwell said: “Jim O’Neill is a world renowned economist who, during his career, has done more than most to lead the research and policy agenda on foreign exchange and emerging markets. Staff and students alike will be energised by his position as honorary chair in economics.”

Mr O’Neill said: “I feel flattered and honoured, and hope I can give something of value to justify it.”