Widely acclaimed as the co-founder of the first human resource development department in the Indian subcontinent (along with Dr Udai Pareek) and the initiator of the HRD movement in the country, Dr Rao was a professor at IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA) for over 20 years. He is currently an adjunct professor at IIMA. He is Founder President of the National HRD Network and Founder Honorary Director of the Academy of HRD. Dr Rao has also worked as L&T Professor of HRD at XLRI, Jamshedpur, during 1983-1985. Dr Rao has over 50 books to his credit in the areas of HRD, education, organizational behaviour, entrepreneurship, health and population, and management training. He has wide and varied consulting experience in areas such as organizational structure, HRD, appraisals, OD, team building, survey feedback, entrepreneurship, institution building, HRD audit, structuring HRD, and institutional evaluation. He was a consultant to various organizations in India and abroad, and to international bodies such as USAID, Indonesia; NERDA, Malaysia; the Commonwealth Secretariat, London; FAO, Rome; and UNESCO, Bangkok.