---
title: "Balaji (Bala) Srinivasan - Member of the Board of Advisors in Greater Chicago Area | Tal"
description: "Meet Balaji (Bala) Srinivasan, Mathematician | Strategist | Author | Former EVP & Deputy Provost, University of Chicago | Advisor on climate, education & institution-building across the US, India & Asia based in Greater Chicago Area."
image: "https://tal.club/meet/bala-srinivasan/share-image"
---

# Balaji \(Bala\) Srinivasan on Tal

## Headline

Mathematician \| Strategist \| Author \| Former EVP & Deputy Provost, University of Chicago \| Advisor on climate, education & institution\-building across the US, India & Asia

## About

I've spent three decades moving between worlds that don't usually talk to each other — quantitative finance, global university leadership, climate innovation, and the classical Indian philosophical traditions I've studied and practiced since my twenties\. At the University of Chicago, I served as Executive Vice President, Deputy Provost, and Chief International Officer, helping build the university's presence across Asia and launching initiatives at the intersection of climate, policy, and institutional design\. Before that, I spent over a decade in finance — Goldman Sachs, J\.P\. Morgan, Och\-Ziff Capital and DRW — working in derivatives, structured products, and digital assets\. Alongside this, I've maintained a deep engagement with India's wisdom traditions — the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and Srimad Bhagavatam — as both a practitioner and teacher for over a decade\. I'm the author of books on the Shanti Mantras, the 15th chapter of the Gita, the Shiva Ashtottara and a new spiritual memoir called "The Archer in the Mirror"\. I am a student of Sanskrit and Vedic thought\. I sit on university boards in India \(Krea University, formerly Ahmedabad University\) and advise on education and institution\-building across South and Southeast Asia\. I'm interested in conversations at the intersection of strategy, meaning, and institutional purpose — and in how ancient frameworks for decision\-making remain strikingly relevant to modern leadership\.

## Location

Greater Chicago Area

## Work experience

Member of the Board of Advisors at Vyoma Linguistic Labs Foundation, Sep 2025 \- Present · 1 yr 2 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, I provide guidance on Vedanta and financial structures for the Foundation, in addition to teaching courses on the Upanishads and Srimad Bhagavatam online\.

President at Cumberland Labs, Jun 2023 \- Present · 3 yrs 5 mos, Singapore, Oversee blockchain incubator

Member of the Board of Management at Krea University, May 2023 \- Present · 3 yrs 6 mos, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Board member of a liberal arts and sciences University focused on inter\-disciplinary education and research

Co\-Chair, Emission Markets Accelarator; Principal Strategic Advisor, Climate Institute \(ICSG\) at UChicago Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, Jan 2023 \- Present · 3 yrs 10 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Provide strategic guidance and leadership international partnerships, research and education https://emissionsmarkets\.org/ https://climate\.uchicago\.edu/

Advisor to the Science Foundation at The Pritzker Organization, Sep 2021 \- Present · 5 yrs 2 mos, Chicago, Illinois, United States

## Education

Caltech

PhD, Mathematics, University of Chicago

[View the original profile](https://tal.club/meet/bala-srinivasan)

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