B. Ayyappa received his Bachelors in economics from R.K.M Vivekananda College in Chennai, India in 1998. Following that he pursued his Masters in Public Administraiotn at the University of Madras, which he received in October of 2000. Ayyappa joined J-PAL South Asia at IFMR in 2007, where he uses his knowledge of database management, event management, and general administration on the operations staff.