Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan is the MLA for Madurai Central Constituency in the 15th & 16th Legislative Assemblies of Tamil Nadu. He currently serves as the Minister for Finance & Human Resources Management in the Tamil Nadu Government.
In June 2017 he was appointed as the (founding) Secretary of the newly formed IT Wing of the DMK. In that capacity he has undertaken the build-out of the party’s technology platforms and a cadre of over 1,50,000 Office Bearers across the State. He is also a designated spokesperson for the party, generally focusing on Economic, Budget & State/Central Finances, and Policy matters.
Dr. Rajan previously worked as an International Investment Banker for many years, in several trading, market sales, and management roles at Lehman Brothers (largely in New York), and Standard Chartered Bank (mostly based in Singapore) – where he last served as Senior Managing Director, Financial Markets, overseeing the sales of several fixed-income products globally. Prior to banking, his career spanned Academia, Agriculture, Consulting, Manufacturing, and Research.
Dr. Rajan represents the 4th generation of his family’s engagement in the Dravidian Movement, and he is a 3rd generation elected representative, following in the footsteps of his Grandfather Tamizhavel Sir P. T. Rajan (former Minister & Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency under Diarchy), and his father P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan (former Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and Minister of the Government of Tamil Nadu).
His political and policy views are significantly shaped by his observation of both the diversity of cultures around the world and the universality of human values. He is frequently invited to speak on wide ranging topics such as Science, Economics, Philosophy & Politics addressing diverse gatherings ranging from Students & Professionals to Trade associations, Industry Leaders & Global Investors.
Because of his global career and deep curiosity, Dr. Rajan has travelled to about 60 countries across the major continents. His political and policy views are significantly shaped by his observation of both the diversity of cultures around the world, and the universality of human values.
Dr. Rajan earned a B. Tech (Hons.) in Chemical Engineering from NIT, Trichy, MS (Operations Research) and Ph. D. (Human Factors Engineering/Engineering Psychology) from the State University of New York, and an MBA (Finance) from the MIT Sloan School of Management.