Professor Rajeev Gowda studied economics and political science at St. Joseph's College, Bangalore. Gowda holds a PhD in Public Policy and Management from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA. He was also a Post- Doctoral Fellow in Law and Economics from University of Berkeley, California.

In 1991, Gowda was awarded the John M. Olin Post-doctoral Fellow in Law and Economics- Law School (Boalt Hall), University of California. He was a visiting scholar at the Center for Jurisprudence and Social Policy- Law School (Boalt Hall), University of California.

In 1992, he joined the University of Oklahoma as Assistant Professor of Political Science. From 1999 to 2000 he held the positions of Associate Professor of Political Science and Research Fellow in Science and Public Policy.

n 2000, he moved to India to help set up the Centre for Public Policy at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and was Chairperson of the centre. At present he is a professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

His other professional appointments include being a Carnegie Council Global Ethics Fellow and a Member of the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India.

Gowda was chosen to launch the Congress party’s younger generation election campaign nationally in Guwahati, 2004.

At the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, he is the official Spokesperson and Member of the Manifesto Committee. He was the Chairman of the BBMP Election Manifesto Drafting Committee, 2010 and an Ex-Convenor, Vichar Vibhag.

To strengthen the support base of the Congress online, Rajeev Gowda has co-founded and runs a pro-Congress blog site hamaracongress.com.

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