Rao has been involved with environment, public health, risk assessment/ management, and strategic planning for more than three decades. He worked with some of the world’s leading corporations including American Cyanamid (now part of Wyeth) and CH2M Hill, and consulted for many Fortune 500 companies.

Rao has served on the Toxicity Advisory Committee for New York City and other professional committees. He has taught technical and business courses as Adjunct Professor at Stevens Inst. of Technology and New Jersey Inst. of Technology. He lectured on environment, health and safety at universities from Princeton to Peking. Rao studied chemical engineering, and has obtained an MBA from New York University and a doctorate in environmental and public health from Columbia University.

He has co-authored and edited the Environmental Strategies Handbook: A Guide to Effective Policies and Practices (published by McGraw-Hill 1994) and the Risk Assessment and Management Handbook for Environmental, Health,and Safety Professionals (McGraw-Hill, 1996). The risk handbook, translated into Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and other languages, is used as text and reference in inter-disciplinary programs around the world.

Rao’s new book: The Ten Spiritual Pillars of Business Success – Engaging Your Creative Spirit for Personal Fulfillment is based on the premise that the business of business has to do not only with Profit but also with People and Planet. He believes that business enterprises are successful when they orchestrate the creative expressions of their members to serve the needs of their customers.