Isher Judge Ahluwalia is Chairperson, Board of Governors, the
Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
(ICRIER), where she served as Director and Chief Executive from
1997 to 2001. Dr Ahluwalia was awarded Padma Bhushan by the
President of India in the year 2009 for her services in the field
of education and literature. Dr Ahluwalia is Chairperson of the
High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure, appointed by
the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India in May 2008.
She is also Member, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council,
Government of India. Dr Ahluwalia was Vice Chairperson of the
Punjab State Planning Board from 2005 to 2007. Dr Ahluwalia is on
the Boards of a number of premier research institutes in India.
Dr Ahluwalia is Vice Chairperson, Global Development Network,
New Delhi and Member, Board of Trustees of the International Water
Management Institute, Sri Lanka. She was Chairperson, Board
of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI), Washington, D.C. from 2003 to 2006. Dr Ahluwalia was a
Member of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the Asian Development
Bank, which submitted its report, "Towards a New Asian
Development Bank in a New Asia" in May 2008. She was a member
of the Commission on Macro-Economics and Health which submitted its
report to the Director General, WHO in 2002. Dr Ahluwalia is
currently Member, Advisory Group on Institutional and Human
Resources Management, the Asian Development Bank. She is also
Member, External Review and Advisory Board to the Asian Development
Bank on their flagship study "Institutions for Regionalism" to
strengthen institutional capabilities of institutions for Asian
economic cooperation and integration.
Dr. Ahluwalia received her B.A. from Presidency College,
Calcutta University, M.A. from the Delhi School of Economics, and
Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), all in
economics. Her research has focused on industrial development,
macro-economic reforms, and issues in social sector development in
India. She is an author/co-author/editor of several books
including India's Economic Reforms and Development: Essays for
Manmohan Singh (OUP, 1998), which she co-edited with Prof. I.M.D
Little. Her book, Industrial Growth in India: Stagnation since the
Mid-Sixties (OUP, 1985) received the Batheja Memorial Award for the
best book on the Indian economy in 1987, and her book,
Productivity and Growth in Indian Manufacturing (OUP, 1991) focused
attention of the policy makers in India on the long standing
problem of poor productivity performance in the manufacturing
sector of India. Dr. Ahluwalia has published many articles in
professional journals and also engaged actively in policy debate in
India through writing in newspapers and magazines and participating
in discussions in the electronic media.
