Dr. Sudha V. Rao got her Master Degree in History from George Washington University in USA. After this she did her PhD in Education and Rural Development at the University of Sussex under the Supervision of Prof. Scarlett T. Epstein. Later she joined the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Asia in Bangkok. After her return to India she worked for the Indian Institute of Education in Pune and in1988 for the Regional Institute of Education (National Councilof Educational Research and Training) in Mysore, where she later became Head and Professor in Population Education until her retirement in 2005

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She has published 3 books, namely: The Arab-Israeli Conflict: An Indian View (Delhi, Orient Longman 1971); Education and Rural Development (Delhi, Sage Publications 1985); and edited together with M. Cottam Ellis, Women, Aid and Development (Delhi, Hindustan Publishers 1993). She published several articles on Population Education, Adolescence and AIDS education in reputed journals.

She organized the preparation of ten scripts (audio visual) on various aspects of Population and Development based on which 300 slides were developed. An Awarness Training Package in Adolescence Education for secondary teachers was prepared in 2000. A research study on Needs Assesment in Adolescence Education in Mysore district was undertaken (2000). In 2003 an Awarness Training Package on HIV/AIDS Education for Teacher Educators and Resource Persons was developed. Further she was Academic Coordinator for a five day advocacy/orientation program on Adolescence Education for Higher Secondary Teachers (2005).