Early in his career, Chellaraj worked at Strategic Analysis Incorporated, a
consulting firm based in
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. He later worked at
Exxon Corporation where he was Fuels Manager for industrial fuels in
Singapore and marketed
jet fuel in
Asia and
Australia. When
Exxon Corporation re-entered India, he was General Manager. During the
George H. W. Bush administration, Chellaraj joined the
United States Environmental Protection Agency as Program Advisor and then worked at the
United States Agency for International Development as counselor to the Assistant Administrator for Asia. In 2001, Chellaraj joined the
United States Mint as senior executive officer; at the US Mint, he was the chief information officer and was also responsible for supply chain, logistics and manufacturing operations at the
West Point Mint, the
Philadelphia Mint, the
Denver Mint, and the
San Francisco Mint. He returned to the private industry when
Blackstone Group acquired
Celanese Corporation and became the Director of Corporate Planning in 2005.
President of the United States George W. Bush nominated Chellaraj as
Assistant Secretary of State for Administration on 24 January 2006, succeeding
William A. Eaton. He was confirmed unanimously by the
United States Senate on 26 May 2006, and was in this position till 20 January 2009. After leaving the US Government, he worked as Vice President, Planning for
Hostess Brands, an American-based bakery company. He received a
bachelor's degree in
chemical engineering from the
National Institute of Technology, Trichy, formerly
Madras University, where he graduated first in his class and also received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013. He then immigrated to the United States and studied at
Clarkson University, receiving a
master's degree in
chemical engineering. He later attended
New York University receiving an
M.B.A. and then
Harvard Kennedy School at
Harvard University, receiving an
M.P.A. He attended the
London Business School, International Management Exchange Program and studied French at the
Sorbonne in
Paris. == References ==