Prof. Vijay Shanker Vyas, Professor Emeritus in the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur has a Ph.D degree in Economics from the University of Bombay. He has taught in Bombay University, Sardar Patel University, and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was a Senior Fellow of the IDRC,  Canada, and a Visiting Scholar at the South Asia  Centre of the Boston  University, U.S.A.

Prof. Vyas served as Director of the Agro-Economic Research Centre, Vallabh Vidyanagar; Professor of Economics and Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sardar Patel University; Member, Agricultural Prices Commission of the Government of India; Director, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Senior Advisor in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the World Bank, Washington, D.C. and, Director Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.

Prof. Vyas has served as Chairman/Member of several Boards, Committees and Commissions at the International, National and State Level.  He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute  [Washington D.C.  U.S.A]; Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, [Cali, Columbia]; member of the Governing Board of the Institute of Development Studies of Sussex University [U.K.], Chairman, Governing Board, IDS, Jaipur. Prof. Vyas is the former Director of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, and a member of the   Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, and a member of the Central  Board of the Reserve Bank of India. 

Prof. Vyas has written extensively on key issues of agricultural policies and rural development, and has been honored by academic community in India and abroad.  He was awarded Elmhurst Memorial Gold Medal by the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) and has been elected as an honorary Life member of IAAE. Prof. Vyas is the past president of the Asians Society of Agricultural Economists, the Indian Society of Agricultural Economists and Indian Labour Economics Conference. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in India.  Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, conferred on him degree of D.Sc. ( Honoris Causa).

Prof. Vyas has been honoured by the award of Padam Bhushan by the President of India on Republic Day 2006. 

February,  2009