About
Brad McDonald resettled in his hometown of Stillwater in 2023 after nearly 35 years in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland. He is a graduate of Bemidji State University and holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
At the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (1997-2013; 2016-2023), Brad helped to negotiate IMF lending programs with several economies in Africa, Europe, and Central Asia; formulated IMF policy regarding low-income economies; and for several years led IMF work on trade policy. These roles included a period as the IMF Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.
Brad was selected into the U.S. Government Senior Executive Service (SES) to lead (2013-16) the U.S. Treasury’s Office of International Trade as the senior Treasury career official on trade matters. In this role he advised the Treasury Secretary and other political appointees on trade policy, represented Treasury in the inter-agency Trade Policy Staff Committee, and represented the United States in trade negotiations and other fora.
Earlier in his career, Brad was an economist in the WTO Secretariat in Geneva (1993-96) and in the U.S.D.A. Economic Research Service (1989-1993). He was also an officer in the U.S. Army, serving in cannon artillery positions in the National Guard in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Virginia.