Narendranath Jayantha (Naren) Chitty AM is a Sri Lankan-Australian diplomat, professor and writer. He was the Head of the Department of International Communication at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Chitty published numerous books and articles in the field of foreign policy, international diplomacy, and soft power. In 2009, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to education. In 2022, he was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus by the university.
Chitty was born in Sri Lanka. He was the son of Capt S. A. and Doris Chitty. He obtained a degree in communication from the University of Westminster in London. He later earned a master of arts degree in international communication (1988) and a PhD in international relations (1992) from the American University in Washington D.C.
Chitty worked as a counsellor at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington, D.C. from 1982 to 1987. While working at the embassy, he met Ronald Reagan and Fidel Castro and was involved in the creation of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and convened the first meetings at the Sri Lanka Chancery in Washington DC. He also contributed to discussions that led to the idea for the International Space University.
Chitty joined the faculty of Macquarie University in 1989. Chitty became the Foundation Chair in International Communication at Macquarie in 2006. He served for a number of years as the Head of the Department of International Communication. He was also at times the Dean and Deputy Dean of the Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy and an Associate Dean in the university's faculty of arts. Chitty was the inaugural director of the Soft Power Analysis and Resource Centre (SPARC) at Macquarie University and was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, the National University of Malaysia, the Communication University of China, and Jilin University and others.
Chitty was the lead editor of 1st edition (2017) and 2nd editions (2023) of The Routledge Handbook of Soft Power. The Institute for Cultural Relations Policy (ICRP) in Budapest has listed the 1st edition of the Routledge Handbook of Soft Power as one of the top 10 books on cultural diplomacy. Chitty was also the founder of The Journal of International Communication and its editor-in-chief from the journal's establishment in 1994 to 2024.
From 1996 to 2000, Chitty served as Secretary-General of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). His work has been linked to the early development of community radio in Sri Lanka.
Chitty retired from the university in May 2025. His novel, TiME FLiES: A 22nd century 'presence' in the 22nd Court of Kandy' was published in 2026.
Chitty is married to Dr. Gina Ismene Chitty, an Australian composer.
In 2009, Chitty was invested as a Member of the Order of Australia for services to education.
In 2022, he was made an Emeritus Professor by Macquarie University.
Chitty's publications examine the intersections of soft power, public diplomacy, governance, and propaganda. They include: