CS Ajay Kumar is an IAS officer of 1985 batch. He is presently the Defence Secretary of India. He is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and University of Minnesota.Kumar has a Bachelor of Technology in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,has a master's degree in development economics from the University of Minnesota,and has a PhD degree in business administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.In 2019, he was facilitated as distinguished alumni by Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for his professional excellence and nation building efforts