Booth Prof In Running for Head of India's Central Bank

Posted by: Louis Lavelle on July 1, 2011

A professor from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business may be in line to lead the Reserve Bank of India, according to Reuters.

Raghuram Rajan, a finance professor at Booth, is one of three contenders for the position. The others are Kaushik Basu, a professor of international studies and economics at Cornell, and R. Gopalan, India’s economic affairs secretary, according to Reuters.

Rajan is currently an economic advisor to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to Rajan’s personal website. Rajan was also the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006. He received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, according to his biography on the IMF website. He is also the author of the 2010 book “Faul Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy.”

Basu declined to comment through the Cornell University press office. The Booth School did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

—by Kiah Lau Haslett