Economist Frederic Emam Zade passed away when his lungs collapsed late on Sunday, 13 March following a long bout with Covid-19. He had spent several weeks in the intensive care unit of the Clínica Abreu.
Emam Zade had refused to be vaccinated. He acknowledged he could catch the fast-spreading Omicron variant but firmly believed the bout would be mild and he would then develop the needed immunity.
Emam Zade was the chief economist and director of the Center for Economic Studies at the Global Democracy and Development Foundation (Funglode), the multidisciplinary think tank founded in October 2000 by former Leonel Fernandez at the end of his third term as President of the Republic. Emam Zade also served as executive director of Funglode from 2005 to 2009.
Emam Zade defined himself as an experienced problem solver and troubleshooter on his Linked In page. “If you’re initiating a business in the Dominican Republic, he is the person you want beside you during your first year(s).
He was a highly qualified professional economist, investment promoter and negotiator who achieved notable results for many businesses, governments and international organizations, during the last 25 years.
He had served for many years as promoter of competitiveness and foreign business to the Dominican Republic. He directed the Stanford Research Institute’s investment promotion program (CPI) in the Dominican Republic.
He had served as deputy minister for foreign relations when Donald Reid Cabral was foreign minister during a term of the late President Joaquin Balaguer.
Always known as a vanguard person, in November 2009, he was one of the first 18 graduates from Singularity University (NASA & Google) Executive Program at NASA Ames Research Park in Silicon Valley. Later on, during the summer of 2010 he completed a course about Singularity Studies at RutgersUniversity at Camden. He is an Associate Member of Astronauts4Hire, a Member of the Foresight Institute, the Lifeboat Foundation, and Advisor of the Matternet – matternet.us.
Emam-Zade created and managed Funglode´s first social networks several years ago and collaborated in the Research and Development of 3D visualization of economic and social data tools in virtual worlds, such as Linden Lab’s Second Life and similar virtual technologies. He was much involved with the use of web 2.0, web 3.0 and web 3D tools for NGOs and businesses.
Former President Leonel Fernandez lamented his death and tweeted that Emam Zade “was a close collaborator and extraordinary human being.”
Emam Zade is survived by his wife Sandra Lluberes and his children Frederic Augusto and Lia Sofia.
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Listin Diario
15 March 2022