Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Wednesday announced her intention to appoint Alfred Kammer as Director of the European Department. 

Kammer succeeds Poul Thomsen, whose retirement was announced previously. 

He is expected to begin his work in this capacity on August 1, according to a media release received from Washington. 

“Alfred is an intellectual and strategic leader, with exceptional institutional knowledge and extensive operational experience. His strategic vision and deep understanding of Europe will be instrumental for the department and the Fund as we seek to help the region during the recovery phase of the crisis and beyond," Georgieva stated.

Since joining the Fund in 1992 through the Economist Program, Kammer has worked on a number of major policy issues and country assignments. 

These include his work in support of the transition economies after the fall of the Berlin Wall, including as resident representative in the Russian Federation during the 1998 financial crisis. 

He led the work on the international monetary system to strengthen the global financial safety net and provided thought leadership to the Fund’s work related to the G20 and G7. 

As the Director of the Office of Technical Assistance Management, Kammer helped to transform the financing and management of the Fund’s technical assistance work. 

He also served for six years in the Office of the Managing Director— first as an Advisor to Deputy Managing Directors Agustín Carstens and Murilo Portugal, and for the last three years as Chief of Staff to the Managing Director, working closely with former Managing Director Christine Lagarde and more recently with Georgieva.

A national of Germany, Kammer holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Würzburg, and postgraduate degrees from the State University of New York at Albany, the Kiel Institute of World Economics, and the University of Southern California.