Born in Paris in December 1932, Serge Kolm studied at the Ecole Polytechnique where his rank permitted him to join the civil service body of the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées (which has a long tradition of applied and theoretical economic research).
He worked in Africa, heading water and river basin management in the Sahel region and setting up development plans for the new independent post-colonial states.
He held teaching and research positions in France (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Institut d'Etudes Politiques, General Planning Commission) and in the USA (Harvard University and Stanford University), and advisory and planning functions in Europe, in various countries in transition, and for international organizations (OECD, IMF, WHO).
He founded and headed a school for development economics and a research center on socio-economic analysis.
Author of over 40 books and several hundred scientific articles, member of the editorial board of various scholarly journals in economics and philosophy, fellow of the Econometric Society since 1972 and of the Institute of Public Economics, Serge Kolm received honoris causa doctorates from the universities of Fribourg and Soka, and the distinction of Officier des Palmes Académiques from the French Government.