Erik Thorbecke is an Emeritus Professor of development economics. In 1984, with the help of two students, he developed the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke metric for generalized poverty, providing developing countries with a powerful tool for measuring the prevalence and extent of poverty in their economies. He will be one of four panelists discussing global poverty reduction April 25, 2015 during Cornell's Sesquicentennial celebration. The event will be broadcast live on CornellCast.