Alfred Steinherr graduated from Université de Lausanne and pursued his studies  at McMaster University (MA, economics) and George Washington University (MS, mathematics). He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. During his time as Professor of economics at the Université Catholique de Louvain he served in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington and as Economic Advisor to the Commission of the European Union.

 He joined the European Investment Bank as Director of the Financial Research Department and moved on to become the Chief Economist.  After retiring from the EIB he served as head of macroeconomics at the Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung in Berlin and as Professor of Economics at the University of Bolzano.

 Alfred Steinherr has extensively published on economic and financial subjects. His most recent books are “Economic Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Planting the Seeds” (Cambridge University Press) and “Derivatives: The Wild Beast of Finance” (Wiley). He is also the co-author of "Macroéconomie" (Pearson Education, Paris). He serves on several boards of academic and financial institutions. He was for 8 years advisor to the government of Kazakhstan and served as advisor to the United Arab Emirates.