Ex-CEA Arvind Subramanian to join Brown University as senior fellow

Former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, who had resigned as a professor at Ashoka University in March this year, will join Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs as a senior fellow on July 1.

Subramanian, an eminent economist, had joined the Ashoka University as a professor in the Department of Economics in July 2020 and put in his papers on March 18 this year. His resignation came soon after political commentator Pratap Bhanu Mehta left the Sonipat, Haryana-based university.

"Delighted to announce that on July 1, Arvind Subramanian will join @BrownUniversity as a senior fellow @WatsonInstitute, in partnership with @SouthAsianBrown. We greatly look forward to his teaching and intellectual affiliation with us. Welcome @arvindsubraman!," Ashutosh Varshney, Director, Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University, said in a tweet.

Mehta, in his resignation letter to the Ashoka University, had said: "After a meeting with the founders, it has become abundantly clear to me that my association with the university may be considered a political liability. My public writing in support of a politics that tries to honour the constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens is perceived to carry risks for the university."

"It is clear it is time for me to leave Ashoka. A liberal university will need a liberal political and social context to flourish. I hope the university will play a role in securing that environment," he wrote.

Subramanian was appointed as the chief economic advisor to the government on October 16, 2014, for a period of three years. He was given an extension in 2017.

However, he quit the job with close to one year of his tenure remaining and returned to the US. Subramanian's official contract was till May 2019.