Mr. Prince Dhawan, an IAS officer by profession and a development practitioner at heart, is committed to improving the living conditions of people in his country and to nation-building. Hailing from Chandigarh, he completed his dual degree (B.Tech. and M.Tech.) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in electrical engineering and ICT. He was the topper and the best all round-student of his class of 2011 and was awarded the Director’s Gold Medal as well as the Director’s Silver Medal. In 2012, he secured the third rank in the all-India civil services exam and is currently placed as the topper of his batch.

Over the last decade, Mr. Dhawan has served in three state and union territory governments, including the tribal areas of Arunachal Pradesh, where he was awarded the National e-governance Award, 2017-18, and the state gold medal for outstanding contribution to public service and use of technology. Under his leadership, the state IT Department was recognized as the best performing department in the state in 2018. Currently stationed in Delhi, Mr. Dhawan is using emerging technologies for proactive governance. As District Magistrate, West Delhi, he is also actively involved in rehabilitation of street children and in upskilling of youth. To be able to better discharge his responsibilities as a public servant in the years ahead, Mr. Dhawan would like to study the key ingredients of an effective policy for different problems and environments.

During his Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellowship, Mr. Dhawan is studying public administration and international development at Harvard university, which helps him gain a deeper understanding of complex developmental problems and acquire the right analytical tools to design and implement solutions for them. After completing his fellowship, he aims to contribute more meaningfully to his life’s mission: empowerment of underprivileged communities and transformation of public service institutions.