| 1963 | Graduate - Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London |
| 1965-1967 | Asst. Works Manager, Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, India and other managerial positions |
| 1966 | Graduate, Institution of Production Engineers, London |
| 1967-1968 | On deputation from Government of India to Montreal Locomotive Works, Montreal |
| 1968-1971 | Works Manager (Engine Division), Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, India |
| 1972 | MSc, Industrial Engineering (major), Economics (minor), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. |
| 1974 | PhD, Economics, and, PhD, Industrial Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. |
| 1974-1975 | Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Business, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina |
| 1975-1979 | Member, Senior Faculty, Administrative Staff College of India, Bella Vista, Hyderabad |
| 1976-1977 | Visiting Faculty Member, Department of Economics and Business, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina |
| 1979-1981 | Director, Consulting and Applied Research Division Administrative Staff College of India, Bella Vista, Hyderabad, India |
| 1981-1982 | Visiting Professor, Resource Economics, College of Mineral and Energy Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia |
| 1982 | Senior Visiting Fellow, Resources Systems Institute, East-West Center, Honolulu |
| 1982-2001 | Director & Chief Executive, TERI The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi |
| 1990 | Visiting Research Fellow, The World Bank, Washington DC |
| 1994-1999 | Adviser on Energy and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources to the Administrator, UNDP - United Nations Development Programme |
| since 1998 | Chancellor, TERI University, New Delhi |
| 2000 | McCluskey Fellow and member of faculty, Yale University, New Haven |
| since 2001 | Director-General & Chief Executive, TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi |
| since 2002 | Chairman, IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| 2009-2012 | Director, Yale Climate and Energy Institute, New Haven |
| 2009-2014 | Professor in the Practice of Sustainable Development, Yale School of Forestry & Environment Studies, New Haven |
| since 2012 | Senior Adviser, Yale Climate and Energy Institute, New Haven |
| 1973 | Staff Assistant to the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopolies, Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate |
| 1974 | Staff Assistant to United States Senator Phillip A. Hart |
| 1977 | Student Intern at Federal Research Board, Washington, DC |
| 1978 | Visiting Scholar, Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm |
| 1978-1980 | Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, Cambridge, MA |
| 1979-1980 | Research Associate, Falk Institute of Economic Research, Jerusalem, Israel, Collaboration with Michael Bruno |
| 1981 | Visiting Research Associate, London School of Economics |
| 1982 | Consultant, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC |
| 1983 | Consultant, OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Visiting Professor, Ecole des Haute Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris |
| 1984-2002 | Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade, Harvard University (Assistant Professor, 1980-1982, Associate Professor, 1982-1983, Full Professor 1984-2002) |
| 1984-1986 | Visiting Professor, Institute of World Economics, Kiel |
| 1986-1987 | Visiting Scholar, Bank of Japan and Japan Ministry of Finance, Tokyo |
| 1990-1992 | Visiting Professor of Macroeconomic Policy, WIDER - World Institute of Development Economics,Research, United Nations University, Helsinki |
| 1994-1996 | Founder and Chair, Executive Committee, Institute of Economic Analysis, Moscow |
| 1995-1999 | Director, Harvard Institute for International Development, Cambridge, MA |
| 1998-2002 | Director, Center for International Development, Harvard University |
| 1999-2000 | Member, International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission appointed by U.S. Congress |
| 2000-2001 | Chair, Commission on Macroeconomics and Health for the World Health Organization, Geneva |
| 2002-2006 | Special Advisor to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Millennium Development Goals; Director, United Nations Millennium Project |
| 2002-2016 | Director, The Earth Institute and Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Colombia University, New York |
| 2007-2016 | Special Advisor to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Millenium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals |
| 2010-2015 | Member, UN Secretary General's MDG Advocacy Group |
| | |
| | Current functions: |
| | Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University, New York |
| | Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres |
| | University Professor, Columbia University, New York |
| | Director, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network |
| | Distinguished Fellow, IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis |
| | Co-Founder and Director, Millennium Promise |
| | Founder and Chair, SDG USA |
| | Economic Advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia |
| | Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA |
| | Member, Brookings Panel of Economists, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC |
| | Co-Chair, Asian Economic Panel of Economists |
| 1982-1986 | Marketing Officer, Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (leave of absence for M.Sc. degree 1983-1986) |
| 1987-1989 | Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois |
| 1989-1991 | Assistant to the Dean, College of Agriculture, University of Illinois |
| 1991-1996 | Assistant Professor and Lecturer, Michigan State University, (leave of absence 1994-1995) |
| 1994-1995 | Minister for Trade, Industry and State Enterprises, Republic of Sierra Leone |
| 1996 | Special Adviser to the Director-General of UNIDO |
| 1996-2000 | Director, Africa and LDCs Regional Bureau, UNIDO |
| 2000-2003 | UNIDO Representative and Director, Regional Industrial Development Centre, Nigeria |
| 2003-2005 | Special Adviser to the Director-General, UNIDO |
| since 2005 | Director-General of UNIDO; re-elected December 2009 |
