Adam Fforde is an economist specializing in Vietnam.
Born in London in 1953, he was educated at Westminster School and the University of Oxford. Changing his academic focus from Engineering to Economics, after an MSc at Birkbeck College, London, Fforde attained his Ph.D (with a thesis on 'Problems of Agricultural Development in North Vietnam') from Cambridge University in 1982.
He spent the 1980s and 1990s in Hanoi and Canberra advising on development practice for national aid agencies and NGOs operating in South-East Asia.[1]
Accepting a Fellowship in 1999 at the National University of Singapore, Fforde subsequently held a number of academic posts in Melbourne, Australia. He is currently among the most widely cited academics writing on contemporary Vietnam,[2] as well as the author of textbooks and critical works on the theory and methodology of development practice. He has also published on the issue of servicisation in developing countries.
He is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne and adjunct professor at Victoria University's Centre for Strategic Economic Studies.[3]
Fforde is the eldest son of John Fforde (1921-2000), a senior figure in the Bank of England, and the brother of British novelist Jasper Fforde (born 1961) and Professor Cressida Fforde (born 1969). He is married with four children and currently lives in Melbourne, Australia.