Dr George Varughese is Senior Strategic Advisor at Niti Foundation, a not-for-profit public interest organisation that engages in Nepali-led public policy reform, where he is responsible for strategic direction across all Niti Foundation programs and convenes the Strategic Advisory Group.

Prior to working at Niti Foundation, Dr Varughese worked with The Asia Foundation in different capacities from 2000 – 2018. Most recently, he was country representative in Nepal (2009-2018), where he oversaw programs supporting an effective political transition. Prior to this, he served as the country representative for Afghanistan (2005-2009) and the deputy country representative in Nepal (2000-2005) in both cases working to strengthen the capacity of democratic institutions to assure good governance and the rule of law. Prior to joining The Asia Foundation, he was advisor for the United Nations Development Program in Nepal.

During the 2015-16 academic year Dr Varughese served as Excellence Chair and Visiting Professor at the University of Wyoming’s Global and Area Studies program, in 2010 he was a Senior Visiting Fellow of The Australian National University’s Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy and in 2008 the Senior International Fellow of the City University of New York’s Graduate Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Dr Varughese holds a joint doctorate in public administration and political science from Indiana University, Bloomington, with an emphasis on public policy, political theory, and environmental policy.