Shalini Randeria

Shalini Randeriais an American-bornIndiananthropologist.

Education

She was born inWashington, D.C.in 1955, and brought up in Mumbai and New Delhi,Randeria is an alumna of theUniversity of Delhi,theUniversity of OxfordandHeidelberg University,and earned her PhD at theFree University of Berlin.

Career

She is tenured as a professor of anthropology and sociology at theGraduate Institute of International and Development Studies(IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland and appointed as therectorof theInstitut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen(IWM) in Vienna, Austria.She is also the director of theAlbert Hirschman Centre on Democracy,a research centre affiliated to the Graduate Institute.

Considered as an expert on democracies,she has held various positions at theUniversity of Zurich,theUniversity of Munich,theCentral European University,and retains the position of visiting professor at theWZB Berlin Social Science Center.She was formerly a member of the editorial board of theAnnual Review of Anthropology.

In June 2021, theCentral European Universityannounced that Randeria would become the university's sixth president and rector. Randeria succeededMichael Ignatieffand became the first woman to serve as president of the university.