Congratulations to Dr. C Rangarajan, an Indian economist and former Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, who has been awarded the Prof CR Rao Centenary Gold Medal -2020. Dr. C Rangarajan was the Chancellor of UoH from 2015 to 2018.
Dr. C Rangarajan
Prof C R Rao, doyen of Mathematical Statistics and Founder President of The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), has celebrated his 100th Birthday on 10th September 2020. Prof Rao’s contributions to theory and applications of statistics has made him one among the world leaders in the subject and he has been listed as one of the top ten Indian Scientists of all time. As Founder President of TIES, Dr Rao has contributed immensely to the growth of Society as well as the Econometrics teaching and research in the country. Dr Rao has been presented with Padma Vibhushan, second highest Civilian award from the Government of India, National Medal of Science from President of the United States, Guy Medal from Royal Statistical Society, among many other awards.
Prof. CR Rao
To commemorate his contributions to the Quantitative Economic theory and Practice, and also to the TIES, the TIES Trust has instituted ‘Prof CR Rao Centenary Gold Medal (CGM). The Medal is presented once in two years to an Indian or Indian-origin scholar for her/his lifetime contributions to the fields of Theoretical and Applied aspects of quantitative economics, and Official Statistics.
For the inaugural award, number of nominations/applications were received. The TIES Trust has constituted a Jury to shortlist the awardees. Based on the Jury’s recommendations, the inaugural award is presented to the following two very distinguished scholars.
- Dr C Rangarajan, Former Chairman, Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister and Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India
- Dr Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor of Economics, Law, and International Relations at Columbia University and Director of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies
The award consists of a Gold Medal and a Citation. As part of the Award, the awardees are expected to give an acceptance lecture either during the annual conference of TIES or at any other venue organized by TIES.
About the awardees
Dr C Rangarajan is currently Chairman of Madras School of Economics, Chennai. He has served as the 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Member of Parliament, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, Governor to the States of united Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, Chairman of the 12th Central Finance Commission, President of the Indian Statistical Institute, Founding Chairman of the CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science among many other very distinguished positions. Dr Rangarajan’s contributions to the Indian macro, monetary, fiscal and financial policies and, specifically to the statistical systems as a Chairman of National Statistical Commission, are immense. For his significant contributions to public policy, the Government of India has presented him with a Padma Vibhushan, second highest civilian award in the year 2002. In 2020, he was awarded the inaugural “Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics” for the lifetime achievements by the Government of India.
Dr Jagdish Bhagwati is a very distinguished trade economist, is currently University Professor, Columbia University and Director, Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies. He was Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been Economic Policy Adviser to Arthur Dunkel, Director General of GATT (1991-93), Special Adviser to the UN on Globalization, and External Adviser to the WTO. He has served on the Expert Group appointed by the Director General of the WTO on the Future of the WTO and on the Advisory Committee to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the NEPAD process in Africa and was also a member of the Eminent Persons Group under the Chairmanship of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on the future of UNCTAD. Five volumes of his scientific writings and two of his public policy essays have been published by MIT press. The recipient of six festschrifts in his honor, he has also received several prizes and honorary degrees, Honoris Causa Titles, Padma Vibhushan, second highest Civilian award from the Government of India and Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, from Government of Japan.