Chief Election Commissioner of India
N. Gopalaswami, is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India. He is a 1966 batch Indian Administrative Services officer belonging to Gujarat cadre.He took over the charge of CEC on June 30, 2006 and has retired in April 2009.

Early Life and Education
Gopalaswami, who hails from Needamangalam, a village in Tamil Nadu did his schooling in Mannargudi and his graduation in Chemistry from St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli.Gopalaswamy is a gold medallist post-graduate in Chemistry from Delhi University and is a diploma holder in Urban Development Planning from University of London.

Early career
A dynamic leader, Gopalaswamy joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1966 and worked in various capacities in Gujarat. During 1967 to 1992, he held various top level posts including that of the Managing Director, Gujarat Communication and Electronics Limited; as Member (Administration and Purchase) in the Gujarat Electricity Board; Secretary to Government (Science & Technology) in Technical Education and Secretary, Department of Revenue.
Earlier he was also District Magistrate in the districts of Kutch and Kheda; Municipal Commissioner Surat; Director of Relief; Director of Higher Education and Joint Secretary (Home Department), Government of Gujarat.

As a Bureaucrat
Gopalaswamy served the Government of India between 1992 and 2004. Prior to this appointment in the Election Commission of India, he was the Union Home Secretary and prior to that, he held the posts of Secretary in the Department of Culture and Secretary General in the National Human Rights Commission.

Gopalaswamy had also worked as advisOr (Education) in the Planning Commission, joint secretary, department of electronics, in charge of software development and industry promotion division and also the head of Software Technology Park of India (STPI) Society and SATCOMM India Society.