Dr. Ajit Ranade thirty-five years career has spanned both academic and corporate assignments. He served as the Vice Chancellor of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune till October 2022. Prior to that he was Group Executive President and Chief Economist with the Aditya Birla Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate. Dr. Ranade has been a Member of the Executive Committees of apex industry chambers CII, FICCI and MCCIA. Dr. Ranade has earlier taught at universities in the U.S.A. and in India. He has been a member of the Board of several companies and trusts, and a columnist for over two decades, writing on economics and current topics. He is a co-author of an award winning book "Rising to the China Challenge" (2021).

Dr. Ranade is Co-Founder and Trustee of Association for Democratic Reforms. He is a Trustee of the Pune International Centre and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Takshashila Institution.

Dr. Ranade holds B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a management diploma from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a PhD in Economics from Brown University. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT, Bombay in 2009.