Prof. The Honourable Bishnodat Persaud CHB, Ph.D., FRSA (1933 – 24 July 2016) was a Guyanese economist who served as Alcan Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies, and Director of Economic Affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat.[1] In November 2013 he was awarded The Companion of Honour[2] in the Barbados Independence Day Honours List for distinguished national achievement and merit for his outstanding contribution to the regional and international public service.
Persaud spent eighteen years in the service of the Commonwealth Secretariat (1974–1992); for the last eleven, he was Director and Head of the Economic Affairs Division.[1] Before joining the Commonwealth Secretariat, he was Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Barbados,[1] and served for a period as head of the Eastern Caribbean branch of the Institute of Social and Economic Research in Barbados.