Dr. Bala Dharan is a Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group. He has served more than 25 times as a testifying expert in litigation and arbitration matters on topics such as financial reporting and disclosures, forensic accounting and investigations, damages analysis, finance, valuation, investment analysis, corporate governance, and auditing. Dr. Dharan has international arbitration experience in many of the major international forums, and is named to the 2015 and 2016 International Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitration. He has also served as a consulting expert on several dozen litigation, arbitration, and business consulting engagements. His consulting and testimony experience covers a variety of industries, including energy, utility, technology, manufacturing, and banking.
Dr. Dharan is also the Robert B. and Candice J. Haas Visiting Professor and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Law School, Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan School of Management, and the J. Howard Creekmore Professor Emeritus at Rice University. Internationally known for his research, he has published widely in major accounting and finance journals, and has coauthored four textbooks on accounting, finance and corporate governance topics. He is an award winning teacher and public speaker, and has provided invited testimony three times before the U.S. Congress on accounting for complex transactions, standard setting process, and energy reserves accounting.
Dr. Dharan is a Certified Public Accountant and holds ABV (Accredited in Business Valuation) and CFF (Certified in Financial Forensics) qualifications. He has a Ph.D. and an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University; an MBA in finance from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; and a B.Tech. in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Employment History
Charles River Associates (CRA International, Inc.)
Vice president
2007 – 2013
Harvard Law School
Robert B. and Candice J. Haas Visiting Professor/Senior lecturer
2013 – present
Robert B. and Candice J. Haas Visiting Professor
2010 – 2013
Visiting professor
2008 – 2010
MIT Sloan School of Management
Research affiliate
2011 – present
Visiting professor
2009 – 2011
Rice University
J. Howard Creekmore Professor Emeritus
July 2009 (courtesy lifetime appointment)
J. Howard Creekmore Professor
1994 – 2009
Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Associate Professor
1987-1994
Assistant professor
1982 – 1987
University of California, Berkeley
Visiting Associate Professor
1988 – 1989
Harvard Business School
Visiting Professor
1994 – 1995
Education
Carnegie Mellon University
Ph.D., Accounting
M.S., Accounting
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
MBA, Finance
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
B.Tech., Chemical Engineering
Professional Affiliations
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Forensic and Valuation Services Section
Member
