Dr. Rajiv Sharma joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1982 and had the unique distinction of being the first Chief Secretary of the newly formed state of Telangana in June 2014. After his superannuation, he was appointed as the Chief Advisor to the Government of Telangana in December 2016. He did his Bachelor of Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (erstwhile University of Roorkee); Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Osmania University, Hyderabad, Master of Arts in Rural Development from University of East Anglia, U.K. and Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, USA.