Professor Bharat Bhasker has been appointed as the director of the Indian Institute of Ahmedabad (IIMA).
Professor Bhasker, who currently holds the position of Professor of Information Technology and Systems at IIM Lucknow, will take charge as IIMA director on March 1, 2023, said an IIMA statement.
In the interim, the Board of Governors has appointed Prof Arindam Banerjee as the director-in-charge from February 1 to 28, 2023. The term of the incumbent director, Prof Errol D’Souza, is ending on January 31.
Professor Bhasker had served as the Director of IIM Raipur from March 2017 to March 2022.
Pankaj R Patel, Chairperson, IIMA Board of Governors, said, “As a successful leader and a Professor of technology with experience of working in India and across the globe, I am confident that Professor Bhasker will carry forward the legacy and lead the institute to newer horizons.” Patel also thanked Prof D’Souza for his outstanding contributions to the Institute during his tenure.
The search cum selection committee, formed by the IIMA Board of Governors, had shortlisted 13 candidates for the top position.
“Based on the committee’s recommendations, the Board of Governors announced the appointment of Prof Bharat Bhasker as the next Director for the institute, during a meeting held at the IIMA campus on Monday,” the statement added.
A BTech graduate from IIT Roorkee, prof Bhasker obtained his MS and PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA.
Before joining IIM Raipur, he was associated with IIM Lucknow for over two decades in various capacities, including its acting director for a period of five months in 2015. He also served as the Dean Planning and Development at IIM Sirmaur from 2003 to 2005.
He has been a visiting professor at ESSEC Business School, Paris, France and University of Texas, Dallas, USA. He was a distinguished professor at Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea, a research professor at University of California, Riverside, USA and adjunct faculty at Information Systems, Univ. of Maryland, College Park.
Prof Bhasker has held senior positions with multiple organisations including the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, SYBASE Inc, MDL Information Systems among others.
Courtesy : The Indian Express