M.S. – INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING ’92
Raj Kalathur received his Master’s in industrial engineering from the University in 1992, and received an MBA from the University of Chicago. A native of India and U.S. citizen, Kalathur began his career as instructor and research assistant at The University of Alabama and in 1992 he became an operations research consultant for American Airlines.
In 1996 Kalathur joined John Deere in their finance department. Since then he has held positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of finance, business development, logistics, operations, marketing, and general management in the U.S. and Mexico.
In 2005, Kalathur led an initiative to set up the John Deere Technology Center in India. He was named managing director and CEO of John Deere India in April 2006, with responsibility for the company’s business activities there.
Kalathur was appointed vice president, sales & marketing, China/India/South and East Asia/Sub-Saharan and South Africa, for the Agriculture & Turf Division in 2009. He was named chief financial officer for Deere & Company in 2012. Institutional Investor magazine has recognized him as a Best CFO in his industry for multiple years and named him part of its All-American Executive Team.
In April of 2019 Kalathur was named president of John Deere Financial. He is responsible for ensuring that John Deere’s customers throughout the world have ready access to competitive financing. Kalathur also has responsibility for the company’s information technology function – a move to help position information technology as a strategic competitive advantage for Deere. Institutional Investor magazine has recognized him as a Best CFO in his industry for multiple years and named him to its All-America Executive Team.
Kalathur’s hobbies include travel, including visits to about 50 countries in six continents and over 40 of the United States; investing; and spending time with his wife Subha and his three daughters, Shveta, Kavya, and Niki.