Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti was born in the Province of Banten, in the island of Java, Indonesia. After completing his doctorandus in economics at the University of Indonesia in 1964, majoring in monetary economics and public finance, he continued his education with a Ford Foundation scholarship at the University of California at Berkeley, where he obtained his MA in Financial Administration (1966) and returned much later to complete his Ph.D in political economy in 1980. His long career as a researcher and lecturer brought him to the position of Senior Research Associate and Director of Research, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, as well as Professor in Economics in the 1980s-1990s, and finally Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Indonesia for the period of 1994-1997
In February 1998, in the midst of a severe financial, economic and business crisis, he was formally appointed by President Soeharto as Indonesia’s Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to the United States for the period up to mid-2001. He presented his credentials to President William J. Clinton in March 16, 1998. Later, due to the sudden succession of political leadership in Indonesia, his mandate was renewed by President B.J. Habibie in midJune 1998; also by President Abdurrachman Wahid in November 1999. During the same period, he also served as Indonesia’s Ambassador to Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean. During that time he was sent as Presidential Special Envoy to attend the inauguration ceremonies of President Mirella Moscoso of Panama, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, President De La Rua of Argentina, President Jorge Battle of Uruguay and President Ricardo Lagos of Chile.
Outside Indonesia, Dorodjatun has for served for a long time as a member of the
Regional Security Study Programme (RSSP) of ISEAS (Institute for SEA Study),
Singapore, as advisor of the Foundation of Asian Management Development (FAMD), Tokyo, as a Country Member of the Institute for Fiscal & Monetary Policy of the Ministry of Finance, Japan, and as a member of the ASEAN-Japan Dialog, Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE). He was also a founding member of the World Agriculture Forum of St. Louis, USA.
In August 2001, Dorodjatun was appointed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri to the position of Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs in her cabinet for 2001-2004. In October 2004 he formally transferred the position to his counterpart in the Cabinet of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He immediately went back to the University of Indonesia as Professor of Economics and Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Economics.