Sir Benegal Rama Rau, CIE (1 July, 1889 – 11 January 1957^[1]) was the fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 July 1949 to 14 January 1957. He was educated at Presidency College, Madras, and at Kings College, Cambridge. He was knighted in 1936. He was a member of the Indian Civil Service. While his had the longest tenure as Governor of the RBI, it was ironically cut short when he resigned just before the expiry of his second extended term, due differences with the then Finance Minister. ^[2]

On joining the ICS and before joing the RBI he held the following posts.^[3]

• Under-Secretary and Deputy Secretary to the Government of Madras (1919-1924)
• Finance Department (1925-1926) as Secretary to the Indian Taxation Committee
• Finance Department (1926-1928) as Deputy Secretary
• Simons Commission (1928-1930) as Financial Adviser
• Industries Department Joint Secretary
• Round Table Conference as Secretary
• Indian Bill (1931-1934) in the Joint Select Committee of Parliament
• Deputy High Commissioner for India in London (1934-1938)
• High Commissioner for India in South Africa (1938-1941)

When he returned to India he was appointed Chairman of the Bombay Port Trust (1941-1946). After serving in the post he once again served as a diplomat as the Indian Ambassador to Japan (1947-1948), and as the Ambassador to the United States (1948-1949). His last position was as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India .