Kekre was born in India on April 4, 1935.
Kekre graduated with degrees including: B.E. (Hons) in Telecommunications engineering from Jabalpur Engineering College, M.Tech in Electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, M.S.Engg in (Electrical engineering) from the University of Ottawa, and lastly a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from IIT Mumbai.