Julián Messina (Ph.D., European University Institute, 2002) is a Beatriz Galindo Distinguished Senior Researcher in the Department of Fundamentos del Análisis Económico at the University of Alicante (UA). Before joining UA, he worked in research areas at the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the European Central Bank for over 15 years, and taught at various universities. His research focuses on labor and education economics, the study of inequality, and applied microeconometrics. He is the author of several books and flagship reports for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as numerous scientific articles published in top academic journals. His research is frequently cited in the media. He is a founding member of LACIR (https://lacir.lse.ac.uk/), the Latin American and Caribbean Inequality Review. He has extensive experience advising governments in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.