Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, Ph.D. works on solutions to grand challenges at the intersection of the public and private sectors.
Through his award-winning academic research, top government policy roles, and operational experience in the private sector, he generates unique insights that drive impact in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, business strategy, geopolitics, and sustainable economic development.
Ronnie is currently on leave from his professorship at Duke to serve as the first Chief Economist of OpenAI. In this role, he is developing research insights on how artificial intelligence is changing our economy and society. He works closely with the product and commercial teams to diffuse the power of AI to as many people as possible.
Prior to this, Ronnie led the implementation of the Biden Administration’s CHIPS program, a $52 billion initiative to enhance America’s industrial base and national security. He also served in senior economic policy roles in the Biden and Obama Administrations, including as Acting Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers.
Chatterji has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in leading academic journals and two academic books, “Can Business Save the Earth?” (Stanford University Press) and “The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth” (University of Chicago Press).
His first popular press book will be published in 2026. He is also the founding director of the Deep Tech Project at Duke, an initiative dedicated to understanding how technologies like generative AI, quantum computing, and synthetic biology are both impacting and being shaped by geopolitics, national industrial policy, workforce development, local economies, and financial markets.
He has received several awards for his research, including the Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in entrepreneurship, the Rising Star award from the Aspen Institute, and the Strategic Management Society Emerging Scholar award. Chatterji has authored several op-ed pieces in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, including influential essays introducing the concept of CEO activism. He writes widely for management and policy audiences with several recent pieces in Harvard Business Review and for the Brookings Institution. He is a frequent keynote speaker and experienced facilitator who has worked with top companies in finance, healthcare, technology, energy, retail, real estate and sports. Chatterji has served as a senior adviser to KKR, Samsung, and PsiQuantum.
Ronnie has won multiple teaching awards at Duke, both for his teaching in the core curriculum and electives. He created a new elective on business and politics that was profiled in national media and became one of the most popular courses at the Fuqua School of Business.
Ronnie officially serves as the Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor of Business and Public Policy at Duke University. He also holds a secondary appointment at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and was previously a visiting Associate Professor at The Harvard Business School. During his sabbatical leave in 2020, Ronnie ran for State Treasurer of North Carolina, winning the statewide primary election and earning more than 2 million votes in the general election.
Ronnie previously worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. He received his Ph.D. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and his B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.
His wife and children are his daily source of inspiration and joy.
Ronnie's CV can be found here.
