IIM Ahmedabad Will be Led by IIM Lucknow Professor Bharat Bhasker

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Ahmedabad (IIMA) Governing body has nominated Professor Bharat Bhasker as the Institute's Director for a five-year term beginning on 1 March 2023. Professor Bhasker will take over the role on March 1st, 2023. He now serves as a Professor of Information Technology and Systems at IIM Lucknow.

Pankaj R. Patel, Chairperson of the IIMA Board of Governors, announced the decision as follows: "The Indian Institute of Ahmedabad (IIMA) is famed for its rich legacy as a top international management institution, that has been moulded by the governance and intellect of all its directors ever since inception, including Professor Errol D'Souza. “

He also said, “I'd like to thank him for his exceptional contributions to the Institute and its members during his term. As the new Director of IIMA, I am pleased to congratulate and welcome Professor Bharat Bhasker.”

“As a successful leader and Professor of technology with experience working in India and around the world, I am convinced that he can continue the heritage and take the institute to newer frontiers in the digital, globalised world of today," He continued.

The IIMA Governors Board selected the Director through a rigorous, detailed, and collaborative procedure. The IIMA Board of Governors established a committee that evaluated 13 candidates for the position in the initial stage.

External candidates were evaluated by all IIMA faculty members who had registered for the position. The selection panel spoke extensively with IIMA faculty members as well as other relevant parties before conducting the final round of interviews.

During a conference held today on the IIMA campus, the Board of Governors declared the choice of Prof. Bharat Bhasker as the new Director following the recommendations of the search and selection committee.

Prof. Arindam Banerjee has been named Interim Director by the Board of Governors for the period of February 1, 2023, to February 28, 2023.

Professor Bhasker is an accomplished Information Technology leader with nearly thirty years of industry, research, teaching, and consulting experience in India and around the world. Until recently, he served as the Director of IIM Raipur for five years, from March 2017 to March 2022.

He spent more than 20 years working for IIM Lucknow, where he held several positions before joining IIM Raipur. For five months between July and November 2015, he acted as the institute's acting director. Additionally, he worked at IIM Sirmaur from 2003 to 2005 as the Dean of Planning & Development.

At the University of Texas in Dallas and the ESSEC Business School in Paris, he has served as a visiting professor.

He served as an Honorary Professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea, as a Research Professor at the University of California, Riverside, and as Adjunct Faculty at the College Park campus of the University of Maryland for Information Systems. In contrast to his years of academic expertise, Prof. Bhasker has a wealth of industry knowledge.

He also held leadership roles with numerous international companies, such as the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, SYBASE Inc., and MDL Information Systems. IT strategy, digital transformation, electronic commerce, business process re-engineering, business analytics, optimization, and data analysis are some of his areas of expertise.

Prof. Bhasker received his M.S. and PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the United States after graduating with a B.Tech. from IIT Roorkee.

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