Chairman of the IPCC and Director-General of TERI

Born: Nainital, India

Dr. R.K. Pachauri was elected Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in April 2002. Under his leadership, the IPCC was the recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with former Vice President of the USA, Al Gore. Dr Pachauri is also the Director-General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, an institution that does original research and provides knowledge in the areas of energy, environment, forestry, biotechnology, and the conservation of natural resources to governments, institutions, and corporate organizations around the world.

Commencing his career with the Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, where he held several managerial positions, Dr Pachauri joined the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, USA, where he obtained an MS in industrial engineering in 1972, a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and a Ph.D. in economics. He also served as Assistant Professor (August 1974-May 1975) and Visiting Faculty Member (Summer 1976 and 1977) in the Department of Economics and Business.On his return to India, he joined the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, as Member Senior Faculty (June 1975-June 1979) and went on to become Director, Consulting and Applied Research Division (July 1979-March 1981).

He joined TERI as Director in April 1981 and since April 2001 has been the Director General. In April 2002, Dr Pachauri was elected to the post of Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988.He has also been Visiting Professor, Resource Economics, at the College of Mineral and Energy Resources, West Virginia University (August 1981-August 1982); Senior Visiting Fellow, Resource Systems Institute, East-West Center, USA (May-June 1982); and Visiting Research Fellow, The World Bank, Washington, DC (June-September 1990). Recognizing his vast knowledge and experience in the energy-environment field, the United Nations Development Programme appointed him as part-time adviser to its Administrator in the fields of energy and sustainable management of natural resources (1994-99). He has also taught at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, USA, as a McCluskey Fellow between September and December 2000.

Dr Pachauri’s wide-ranging expertise has resulted in his membership of various international and national committees and boards. At the international level, these include his positions as Member, Board of the International Solar Energy Society (1991-97); Member, World Resources Institute Council (1992); Chairman, Work Group A, World Energy Council Committee on Developing Countries (1993-95); President and Chairman, International Association for Energy Economics, Washington, D C (1988, 1989-90, respectively); and President, Asian Energy Institute (1992 onwards). He has also contributed immensely to various committees of the Government of India. He has been a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change since June 2007. To acknowledge his immense contributions to the field of environment, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India in January 2001. He was also bestowed the ’Officier De La Légion D’Honneur’ by the Government of France in 2006. In 2008, he was conferred with the ’Padma Vibhushan’, second highest civilian award, for his services in the field of science and engineering by the President of India.He has also authored 23 books and several papers and articles.

Show others posts of Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri :

• 2008/10/07 - Fighting climate change for the sake of the poor