Vishakha N. Desai

Dr. Vishakha N. Desai is Senior Advisor to Columbia Global and a Senior Fellow of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. She previously served as Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia (2013-2023) and as Chair of the Committee on Global Thought. From 2004 through 2012, Dr. Desai served as President and CEO of the Asia Society, where she expanded the organization's global footprint with new offices in India and Korea, a center for U.S.-China Relations, and the inauguration of architecturally distinguished
facilities in Hong Kong and Houston.

A scholar of Asian art and a prominent public intellectual, Dr. Desai is internationally recognized for her leadership in presenting contemporary Asian art to Western audiences. She has held tenured and senior academic positions at Columbia University, Boston University, and the University of Massachusetts. Her expertise focuses on the cultural roots of Asia's economic and political transformations, and her commentary has appeared in more than fifty global publications.

Dr. Desai is a Trustee of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Tallberg Foundation. She serves on the boards of Korea University and Teach For All, and recently concluded a twelve-year term on the board of Mahindra & Mahindra (2012-2024). Her extensive leadership history includes serving as Chair of AFS Intercultural Programs, Trustee of the Brookings Institution, and President of the Association of Art Museum Directors.