Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Mehta speaking at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2009
Born	1967
Residence	India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford Princeton University
Scientific career
Fields	Political Science
Institutions	Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University

Pratap Bhanu Mehta (born 1967) is an Indian academic. He was the president of the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based think tank. The Centre for Policy Research is one of India’s most distinguished think tanks. He was a Professor at NYU Law School’s Global Faculty. He has previously Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard University; Associate Professor of Government and of Social Studies at Harvard, and for a brief period, Professor of Philosophy and of Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He will take office as Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, Sonepat from July 1, 2017. He has been described as "one of India’s more thoughtful intellectuals."

Pratap was born in a Jain family. Mehta obtained a B.A. from St John's College, Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and a Ph.D in Politics from Princeton University.

Mehta has also done extensive public policy work. He was Member-Convenor of the Prime Minister of India's National Knowledge Commission; Member of the Supreme Court appointed Lyngdoh Committee on Indian Universities and has contributed to a number of reports for leading Government of India and International Agencies. He was on the Board of Governors of IDRC. He was Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum's Council on Global Governance. He has also served on the Board of NIPFP, NCAER and NIID. He is also on the Editorial Board of numerous journals including the American Political Science Review and Journal of Democracy.

Mehta has published widely in the fields of political theory, intellectual history, constitutional law, politics and society in India and international politics. His scholarly articles have appeared in leading international referred journals in the field, as well as numerous edited volumes. His early work was on eighteenth century thought, particularly on Adam Smith and the Making of the Enlightenment. He has also written on issues of Cosmopolitanism, Liberalism, Rights, Judicial Review, International Governance and Democratic Theory. His most recent publications include, The Burden of Democracy and an edited volume India’s Public Institutions. He is also a member of the group that produced Non-Alignment 2.O (Penguin 2013) and co editor of Shaping the Emerging World: India and the Multilateral Order (Brookings Press, 2013). He is also co editor (with Niraja Jayal) of the Oxford Companion to Politics in India. He is a recipient of several awards. He won the Malcolm S. Adisheshiah Award for Social Sciences in 2010, the prestigious Infosys Prize in 2011 and the Amartya Sen Award for Social Science, 2013. The Jury for the Infosys Prize, Chaired by Amartya Sen gave the following citation: "Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta has established himself as one of India’s finest scholars and public minds, who has inspired a new generation of intellectual enquiry. He has contributed not only to political philosophy and social theory in general, but has also addressed urgent issues of Indian politics and public policy. Mehta has shown an exemplary willingness to broaden the sphere of public reason and to challenge reigning orthodoxies, while remaining committed to institution building, as exemplified by his constructive leadership of the Centre for Policy Research." Mehta is a participant in public debates in India and abroad and has written columns for national and international dailies, including the Indian Express, Hindu, Financial Times. Several leading dailies have named him amongst India's most influential opinion maker. He is an Editorial Consultant to the Indian Express. He resigned from the National Knowledge Commission following a disagreement over Higher Education Policy.