Reforming the Indian Banking System: Why It Is Important and What Can Be Done

Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series
Dr. Raghuram Rajan
Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago
Jon M. Huntsman Hall, 8th floor, The Wharton School, 3730 Walnut Street University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia

Raghuram Rajan is the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business.

Prior to resuming teaching, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund between 2003 and 2006.

Dr. Rajan graduated from IIT Delhi in 1985 with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering and I.I.M. Ahmedabad in 1987. He joined the Graduate School of Business (GSB), University of Chicago in 1991 after obtaining a Ph.D. from MIT. In 1994, Rajan was voted tenure and appointment as Professor of Finance.

Dr. Rajan's research interests focus primarily on economic development, and the role finance plays in it. His papers have been published in all the top economics and finance journals, and he has served on the editorial board of the American Economic Review and the Journal of Finance. He has also written a book with Luigi Zingales entitled Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists, which was published by Random House in February 2003.

In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given every two years to the financial economist under age 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the theory and practice of finance.

Dr. Rajan is on a number of boards and advisory councils. He currently chairs the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms which will propose reforms of the Indian financial sector to the Indian government.

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.