Dr. Eswaran Sridharan
Academic Director and Chief Executive
Eswaran Sridharan is the Academic Director and Chief Executive of the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI), (in New Delhi), from its inception in 1997, and was earlier with the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He is a political scientist with research interests in the party systems and coalition politics, political economy of development, and international relations theory and Indian foreign policy. He is the author of The Political Economy of Industrial Promotion: Indian, Brazilian and Korean Electronics in Comparative Perspective 1969-1994 (1996); and has co-edited (with Zoya Hasan and R. Sudarshan), India’s Living Constitution: Ideas, Practices, Controversies (2002; 2005); co-edited (with Anthony D’Costa), India in the Global Software Industry: Innovation, Firms Strategies and Development, (2004); co-edited (with Peter de Souza) India’s Political Parties (2006); and edited The India-Pakistan Nuclear Relationship: Theories of Deterrence and International Relations (2007), International Relations Theory and South Asia, Vols. I & II (2011), Coalition Politics and Democratic Consolidation in Asia (2012), Coalition Politics in India: Selected Issues at the Centre and the States (2014), Eastward Ho? India's Relations with the Indo-Pacific (2021), and Elections, Parties and Coalitions in India: Recent History and Theory (2024). He has published ninety journal articles and chapters in edited volumes. He has held visiting appointments at the University of California, Berkeley, London School of Economics, Institute of South Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore, and Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo. He is the Editor-in-Chief of India Review, a refereed Routledge journal, and is on the editorial boards of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, International Studies Review, and Millennial Asia. He earned his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Pennsylvania.
GOVERNING COUNCIL
President:
Pia Singh
Director, DLF Ltd.
Members:
Sanjay Labroo
Managing Director & CEO, Asahi India Glass Ltd.
GENERAL BODY
The Founder Members of UPIASI are also Life Members and are on the General Body:
Professor Emerita Francine Frankel
Founding Director, CASI (1992-2006)
Professor of Political Science and South Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania
RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Pankaj Chandra
Vice-Chancellor and Chairman, Board of Management
Ahmedabad University
Emily Hannum
Professor of Sociology and Education, and Associate Dean for Social Sciences
University of Pennsylvania
Rishikesha T. Krishnan
Professor of Corporate Strategy and Policy, and
Director, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
C. Raja Mohan
Director, Institute of South Asian Studies
National University of Singapore
Rahul Mukherji
Professor and Head, Dept. of Political Science
Deputy Executive Director, South Asia Institute
Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies
University of Heidelberg
Tariq Thachil
Director, Center for the Advanced Study of India and
Associate Professor of Political Science
Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India
University of Pennsylvania
E. Sridharan
Academic Director and Chief Executive
University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Keshub Mahindra (1923-2023) was Chairman Emeritus, Mahindra & Mahindra, and the seniormost alumnus in India of the University of Pennsylvania (the Wharton School). He was the President of the Governing Council of the University of Pennsylvania institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI) from its foundation and registration in January 1995 through our opening our doors in February 1997, to March 2011 when he stepped down. It was his vision that guided our initial setting up and our functioning for over a decade and a half. A renowned industry leader and philanthropist, he mentored and guided our growth. After joining the Company in 1947, he became the Chairman in 1963. He had been appointed by the Government of India to serve on many Committees including the Sachar Commission on Company Law & MRTP and the Central Advisory Council of Industries. In 1987, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur by the French Government. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. Mahindra was a Member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry and a member of the Apex Advisory Council of ASSOCHAM and was the President Emeritus of the Employers’ Federation of India. He was an Honorary Fellow of the All India Management Association, New Delhi and a member of the Council of the United World Colleges (International) in the United Kingdom. He had also served on several Boards and Councils in both the private and public domain, including SAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, IFC and ICICI. Mr. Mahindra was also the Founder Chairman of HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited); Vice-Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd; Chairman of Mahindra Ugine Steel Co. Ltd; Director of Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited. He joined CASI's International Advisory Board at its inception in 1993 and then became an Honorary Life Member in 2004. He remained a Life Member of UPIASI as a Founder Member.
Ambassador Shilendra K. (S. K.) Singh (1932-2009), former Governor of Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh and former Foreign Secretary of India, and ambassador to several countries, was a Founding Member of the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI) in New Delhi and served as Secretary General and Governing Council member from January 1995 to December 2004. He was a member of CASI’s International Advisory Board for nine years, and remained an Honorary Member of the Governing Council of UPIASI after being appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in December 2004, and Governor of Rajasthan in 2007. He played a vital role in UPIASI’s foundation and the first decade of its growth in terms of fundraising, government relations and overall direction by lending his stature to the institution and giving his time despite his many other obligations and commitments. He continued to mentor and help UPIASI’s growth in key ways even after formally stepping down and remained a Life Member as a Founder Member.
Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan (1928-2020) was a Founder-member and Life member of UPIASI and former Vice-President of the UPIASI Governing Council, 1995-2011. She was also on the CASI International Advisory Board (IAB) from 1992 to 2006 and made an Honorary Life Member in 2006. She was a distinguished scholar of the Indian arts and an institution builder and prominent public figure, having been a founder-director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, a former member of the Executive Board of UNESCO, and a former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) to name a few of her past positions. She played a major role in UPIASI’s growth during her years on the Governing Council.