Professor Sen was born in November 3, 1933 in Santimketan (Bulpur), State of Bengala, India. Graduated in Economic Sciences in the Presidency College of Calcuta in 1953. Afterwards, in the Trinity College of the University of Cambridge he took the studies of Bachelor of Arts in Economcs (1955), and of Ph.D in 1959.

Between 1956 and 1958 he was professor of Economics in the Jadavpur University of Calcuta. During the years 1957-63 he was Fellow of the Trinity College of Cambridge. He was Professor of Economics of the London School of Economics (1971-77). He was nominated professor of Economics and Fellow of the Nuffield College (1977-80) in Oxford. This last year he was nominated Drummond Professor of Political Economy of the University of Oxford and Fellow of the All Souls College, position in which he remained between 1980 and 1988. From 1988 he is Lamont University Professor of the University of Harvard and Professor of Economics and Philosophy of the same.

Sen is member of the composition council of the magazines Economica, Economics and Philosophy, Ethics, among others. He is also Research Adviser of the World Institute of Development Economic Research of Helsinki, and Trustee of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Princeton. He has been, among others, president of the Economic Society (1984), of the International Economic Association (1986-89), vicepresident (honorary) of the Royal Economic Society from 1988 and president of the American Economic Association (1994).

Sen has received the Mahalobonis Prize (1976), the Frank E. Scidman Distinguished Award in Political Economy (1984), the Senator Giovanni Agnelli International Prize in Ethics (1990) and the Alan Shawn Feinstein Ward Hanger Award (1990).