Rajan Chakrabarty obtained his PhD in Chemical Physics from the University of Nevada, Reno with dissertation research conducted at the Desert Research Institute. He also holds degrees in Atmospheric Physics (MS) and Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (BEng). His research contributions have been recognized with several prestigious honors, most notably the 2019 Kenneth T. Whitby award (AAAR), 2019 Schmauss award (GAeF), 2018 AGU Global Environmental Change Early Career award, the 2017 Richard M. Goody award by the electromagnetic light scattering and remote sensing community, and a 2015 NSF CAREER award.
Chakrabarty has been an active member, including serving as the Chair, of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR) Aerosol Physics working group since 2008, and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Between 2014 and 2017, he served as Chair of the AAAR Education Committee for three consecutive years. He was one of the host organizers of the 2018 International Aerosol Conference, in charge of a number of activities from organizing tutorials to overseeing the day-to-day smooth functioning of the events.