Vishakha Desai, former president and chief executive of the Asia Society, will join Columbia University as the president’s special adviser for global affairs while also serving as a professor of practice at the School of International and Public Affairs, effective Jan. 1.

In a press release issued by the university, Desai said she was “excited” about joining Columbia and looking forward to helping “to develop a coordinated approach to Columbia’s global ambitions.” She added, “I have been privileged to work on similar projects at Asia Society and I hope to bring that experience to Columbia.”

Desai spent 22 years at the Asia Society, the last eight years as its president. According to the press release, she steered the organization to significant growth in its education, art, business and public policy programs, including the establishment of a Center on U.S.-China Relations and major new facilities in Houston, Hong Kong, South Korea and India. Asia Society’s global reach now includes a presence in 11 cities in Asia and the United States.

A visiting professor at Columbia in 1995-96, Desai has taught at Princeton University, Williams College, Boston University, College of Charleston and the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In addition to early work in education and public programs at the Brooklyn Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art, she was assistant curator of Indian, Southeast Asian and Islamic Collections at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. She has published catalogs of major exhibitions and holds five honorary degrees. Born in India, Desai received her B.A. in political science from Bombay University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Michigan.