The institute was set up as a Trust Prof. Malcolm Adiseshiah and Mrs. Elizabeth Adiseshiah. The members of the Board of Trust include eminent scholars and experts in different fields. The Board of Trustees are custodians of the assets of the Institute and the Trustees are also represented in the Governing Council of the institute.
The present members of the Board of Trustees:
Shri N.Gopalaswami, IAS [Retd], Chairperson, MIDS [Ex-Officio].
Prof C.T. Kurien, Former Director & Former Chairperson, MIDS.
Shri P.V. Rajaraman, IAS [Retd], Former Chairman of the Audit Committee and Investor Grievance Committee of Government of India, Chennai.
Prof M. Govinda Rao, Member of the 14th Finance Commission & Former Director of ISEC, Bengaluru and NIPFP, New Delhi.
Dr. [Tmt] Girija Vaidyanathan, IAS [Retd], Former Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.
Dr. Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group, Mumbai.
Dr.P. Duraisamy, Ph.D., D.Econ.Sc. (Paris), Former Vice Chancellor, University of Madras, Chennai.
Permanent Invitee to the Board of Trustees Meetings
The Director,MIDS (Ex-officio), Chennai