New Delhi: Former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian is set to join Brown University’s Watson Institute as a senior fellow.
The information was shared by Ashutosh Varshney, director, Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University on his Twitter account Thursday. Welcoming him on board, Varshney said Subramanian will join the university on 1 July.
Delighted to announce that on July 1, Arvind Subramanian will join @BrownUniversity as a senior fellow @WatsonInstitute, in partnership with @SouthAsiaBrown. We greatly greatly look forward to his teaching and intellectual affiliation with us. Welcome @arvindsubraman!
— Ashutosh Varshney (@ProfVarshney) June 3, 2021
Subramanian will be joining Brown University months after he resigned from Ashoka University’s faculty in March, after political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s exit.
In a letter written to Ashoka University’s Vice Chancellor Malabika Sarkar, the noted economist had cited the circumstances involving Mehta’s exit as the reason for his resignation and the fact that “Ashoka can no longer provide a space for academic expression and freedom”.
Subramanian had joined the university in July last year as a professor of economics. He is also the founding director of Ashoka Center for Economic Policy.
He also said that Mehta’s exit had “devastated him”.
What followed was a series of events — from Ashoka University students protesting against the varsity’s administration and demanding that both Subramanian and Mehta be invited back to the university to Mehta’s resignation going public. The issue snowballed into a controversy, with people questioning the foundation of Ashoka as a liberal arts institute.
Also read: There have been lapses, says Ashoka University in joint statement with Mehta & Subramanian
New role
At his current assignment, Subramanian will join as a senior fellow at the Watson Institute, an institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. In his role, he will continue to teach and engage in policy research focused on South Asia.
Subramanian had tweeted about the new opportunity in April, but he did not specify the exact timeline. “With sadness & sense of opportunity unrealised, I leave Ashoka University. Look forward to new roles at Watson Institute, Brown University as Faculty as Senior Fellow & Center for Global Development as Distinguished Non-Resident Fellow. Hope to continue teaching, researching & engaging on economic development & India”, he wrote.
Also read: Mehta’s columns, new plot behind exit, Ashoka University students claim. Not true, says univ