R.K. Pachauri

Date of Birth: August 20, 1940

Birth Place: Nainital, India

Nationality: Indian

Education: M.S. (Industrial Engineering), Ph.D. (Industrial Engineering), Ph.D. (Economics)

Career: Economist and Environmental Scientist

Rajendra Kumar Pachauri was born on 20 August 1940 in Nainital, India. An economist and environmental scientist of immense repute, Dr. Pachauri is presently the Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He is also the Director-General of TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute) - an institute dedicated to sustainable development. R.K. Pachauri was in the limelight recently when IPCC along with the former US Vice President Al Gore, won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 and Dr. Pachauri received the award on behalf of IPCC.

 

Mr. Pachauri did his graduation from La Martiniere College in Lucknow. He started his career at the Diesel Locomotive Works (Varanasi) serving various managerial positions. Dr. Pachauri went to North Carolina State University, USA for higher studies. He did his MS in Industrial Engineering (1972), PhD in Industrial Engineering and PhD in Economics. From Aug’ 1974 to May’ 1975, he served as Assistant Professor, and Visiting Faculty Member (in summers of 1976 and 1977) in the Department of Economics and Business.

 

When he returned to India, he joined as Member Senior Faculty (Jun’ 1975- Jun’ 1979) in the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. Thereafter, he became the Director of the Consulting and Applied Research Division (Jul’ 1979-Mar’ 1981). For the period of Aug’ 1981-Aug’ 1982, R.K. Pachauri was a Visiting Professor of Resource Economics at the College of Mineral and Energy Resources, West Virginia University. He was also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Resource Systems Institute (1982), and Visiting Research Fellow at the World Bank, Washington DC (1990).

 

Because of his extensive knowledge and expertise, Dr Pachauri has been nominated to innumerable international and national committees and boards. On the international level, he had been the Member of Board of the International Solar Energy Society (1991-1997), World Resources Institute Council (1992), while Chairman of the World Energy Council (1993-1995), President and then Chairman of the International Association for Energy Economics (1988-1990), and the President of the Asian Energy Institute (Since 1992).

 

Regarding the academic and research institutes, he has served the Trireme Scientific & Industrial Research Foundation (Sep’ 1987), the India International Center (Since 1985), the Administrative Staff College of India, and the India Habitat Center (Since 1987). In recognition of his immense knowledge and understanding in the energy and environment field, the United Nations Development Programme selected Pachauri as a Part Time Adviser in the area of Energy and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (1994 -1999).

 

Throughout his career, this learned man has been associated with numerous academic and research institutes. He had been on the Board of Directors of the Indian Oil Corporation (Jan’ 1999 to Sep’ 2003), GAIL (India) Ltd. (Apr’ 2003 to Oct’ 2004) and National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (Aug’ 2002 to Aug’ 2005). Besides this, Pachauri was on the Board of Governors of Shriram Scientific and Industrial Research Foundation (Sep’ 1987), and on the Court of Governors of the Administrative Staff College of India (1979-81).

 

In Sept’1999, Dr. Pachauri was appointed as the Chairman of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Heritage Foundation. He was chosen as a Member of the Economic Advisory Council in July, 2001. In the same year, R.K. Pachauri was honored with the Padma Bhushan, one the highest civilian awards of India, for his contribution to the field of environment. Dr. Rajendra has also written about 21 books, numerous papers and articles. Rajendra K. Pachauri was awarded ‘NDTV Global Indian of the Year’ for the year 2007.