Inaugural Thought Leaders Forum

Pratap Bhanu Mehta was previously vice-chancellor of Ashoka University and president at the Center for Policy Research in Delhi, India. He has previously taught at Harvard University, Ashoka University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and has been Global Faculty at NYU Law School. He has published widely in political theory, history of ideas, Indian constitutional law and politics in India. He is the author of The Burden of Democracy and has produced several edited volumes. He is co-editor, with Madhav Khosla and Sujit Choudhary, of The Oxford Handbook to the Indian Constitution. His forthcoming work looks at philosophical ideas about religion in 20th century India. He is also a fellow of the British Academy and SSRC Fellow for 2020.

His policy experience includes being convenor of the Prime Minister of India’s Knowledge Commission (2005-2007) and member of India’s National Security advisory board. He is also editorial consultant to the Indian Express. He is a contributor to public debates. He has also published in the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and other dailies. He is a winner of the Infosys Prize 2011.

Mehta studied at Oxford and holds a Ph.D in politics from Princeton. He was the first cohort of graduate student fellows at the Center for Human Values.