Dr. Lucas Papademos, former governor of the central bank of Greece and former vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), was on Thursday named as the new prime minister of Greece.

President of Republic Karolos Papoulias gave Papademos a mandate to form the new interim government, a Presidency announcement said.The new Greek interim government will be sworn in at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.

The 64-year-old Papademos, economic adviser to outgoing Premier Papandreou since 2010, was on Thursday named as the prime minister who will head a coalition government in Greece agreed by prime minister George Papandreou (ruling PASOK party leader) and main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras that is being formed to pass through parliament a second EU-IMF bailout package for Greece agreed at an extraordinary eurozone summit on October 26 before leading the country to early general elections in three months' time, with the most likely date being February 19.

Born in Athens in 1947, Papademos attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a bachelors degree in physics in 1970, a masters degree in electrical engineering in 1972, and a PhD in economics in 1978.

He taught economics at Columbia University from 1975 to 1984, and at the University of Athens from 1988 to 1993.

Papademos was Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1980, and joined the Bank of Greece (BoG), Greece's central bank, in 195 as Chief Economist, rising to Deputy Governor in 1993 and taking over as Governor in 1994. During his tenure at the BoG, Greece switched from the drachma national currency to the euro.

Papademos left the BoG in 2002 to become vice-president of the European Central Bank (ECB) under president Jean-Claude Trichet until 2010. He subsequently left the ECB to become an economic advisor to Greek prime minister George Papandreou since 2010. He has also been a member of the Financial Stability Board and the EU Economic and Financial Committee.

He is also currently serving as a visiting professor of public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, maintains a professorship of economics at Athens University since 1988, has been a member of the Academy of Athens since 2006, and has been a member of the Trilateral Commission since 1998.

Papademos has further published numerous articles in the fields of macroeconomic theory, the structure and functioning of financial markets, monetary analysis and policy, as well as on subjects concerning the economic performance, financial stability and economic policy in the European Union.

Statement by President Barroso and President Van Rompuy on the designation of Lucas Papademos as Prime Minister of Greece

The agreement to form a government of national unity opens a new chapter for Greece. We have long stressed the need for a broad political consensus around measures to lift Greece out of this deep economic crisis. As such, we warmly welcome this news.

Although this will be a transitional government, its workload will be extremely intense. A second programme of financial assistance must be rapidly concluded, as foreseen by the Euro Summit on 27 October. The voluntary bond exchange with private sector investors should take place as planned at the beginning of 2012.

It is important for Greece's new government to send a strong cross-party message of reassurance to its European partners that it is committed to doing what it takes to set its debt on a steady downward path. Fiscal consolidation should go hand in hand with the structural reforms needed to transform Greece's growth potential and generate the jobs its people so urgently need.

We reiterate that our European Institutions will continue to do everything within their power to help Greece. But Greece must also do everything within its power to help itself.

We have relayed these messages to the Greek leadership. We look forward to meeting as soon as possible with the designated Prime Minister Lucas Papademos to discuss the pressing matters on our common agenda.