Dr. Shailesh J. Mehta, was recently Chairman of the Board and CEO of Providian Financial Corporation, a Fortune 500 company with over $30 billion in assets and over 18 million customers. Dr. Mehta did his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 1971 and completed masters and doctorate degrees in Operations Research and Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Mehta joined the founding team of First Deposit Corporation, the predecessor company to Providian, in 1986 and built it from just 80 employees to over 12,000 employees. He has also served on the advisory board for various privately held companies. Prior to joining Providian, Dr. Mehta was Executive Vice President at the Ohio-based Ameritrust Corporation (Now Key Corp), where he worked for twelve years.

Dr. Mehta has received countless awards for excellence in leadership as an individual and as a community leader. He has received many awards including, Leadership for Excellence in Business and Technology, Excellence in Corporate Citizenship, Excellence in Philanthropy, Leadership and Friendship, Special Community Awards and the Millennium Award.

Dr. Mehta is also known for his philanthropic activities. He has formed the Shailesh J. Mehta and Kalpa S. Mehta Charitable Foundation, which has given millions in grants to various institutions including the Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management at IIT Bombay and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.