 He took up the directorship of IUCAA in 2009 and remained the director until 2014 before being succeeded by Somak Raychaudhury.He was elected as the Vice President of the IAU's Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) and also serves on the Space Commission of the Department of Space, India.Kembhavi has played a very significant role in the development of astronomy as a research area in India.