Chief Minister, Bihar
Age: 56
Kumar, who started his career as a police officer, swept into power in Bihar in 2005 on a campaign of “education, science, and development.” The state, considered the most lawless in India, was the despair of the nation and a cesspool of caste politics. But Kumar, an engineer and former railway minister in New Delhi, saw what others didn’t: rising aspirations. Now Bihar is improving, and the fastest-growing industry in the state is education.