Economist Rathin Roy Appointed Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at GITAM
Roy previously served as Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy under the ministry of finance, Government of India.
Visakhapatnam: GITAM Deemed to be University has appointed Rathin Roy, a senior public finance economist with over three decades of experience in fiscal policy and institutional reform, as Dean of its School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Roy previously served as Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy under the ministry of finance, Government of India. He later led the Overseas Development Institute in London, a global policy think tank. His career also includes senior assignments with the United Nations Development Programme in New York, Bangkok and Brasília.
He was Economic Adviser to the Thirteenth Finance Commission of India in the rank of Joint Secretary, contributing to constitutional fiscal federalism and public expenditure frameworks. Roy has taught at the University of Manchester and the University of London. He holds a PhD and MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge, an MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a BA from St. Stephen’s College.
The university said the appointment comes at a decisive stage in its evolution into a multidisciplinary, research-driven institution grounded in knowledge and integrity. Humanities and Social Sciences, it noted, are foundational to shaping state capacity, institutional design and public reasoning.
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences at GITAM anchors disciplines including economics, political science, sociology and psychology. The university stated that these fields provide the analytical framework within which technological and scientific innovation can translate into public policy and institutional reform.
Under Roy’s leadership, the School plans to deepen scholarship in political economy, public finance and development economics, with a focus on fiscal federalism, regulatory design and institutional accountability. It will build structured research clusters aligned with national development priorities and strengthen engagement with government departments, regulatory authorities and multilateral institutions.
The university also intends to integrate rigorous empirical policy analysis into undergraduate and postgraduate teaching while reinforcing interdisciplinary pathways under its liberal education framework.
GITAM said the appointment reflects its objective of strengthening intellectual depth and national relevance as it transitions from a strong regional institution into a university recognised for research, applied learning and policy engagement.
Established in 1980, GITAM Deemed to be University operates 14 schools across four multidisciplinary campuses in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Through initiatives such as the Multidisciplinary Unit of Research on Translational Initiatives (MURTI), the institution promotes collaborative research aimed at addressing global challenges.
