Udaipur(Rajasthan) 1 August : IIM Udaipur
has appointed Prof Ashok Banerjee, faculty at IIM Calcutta, as its new
Director. Prof Banerjee takes over charge on August 1, 2022, and succeeds Prof
Janat Shah, who has helmed the institute for 11 years, since its inception in
2011.
Prof.
Banerjee is a Chartered Accountant and holds an M.Com. Degree from Calcutta
University and a Ph.D. from Rajasthan University.Prof Banerjee is a seasoned academician
with vast experience as a senior professor in the Finance and Control area. His
research interests are in the areas of high-frequency finance, Fintech, and
sentiment analysis. He was the Dean
(New Initiatives and External Relations at IIM Calcutta from 2012 to 2015. Prior to
joining IIM Calcutta, he was a professor at IIM Lucknow.
He also serves as an independent director on the Boards of companies in
the financial and technology sectors. During his stint as Dean, Prof Banerjee
is credited with setting up an incubator at IIM Calcutta, called IIM Calcutta
Innovation Park, which is recognized by the Department of Science &
Technology as a Technology Business Incubator. Prof. Banerjee was the founder-coordinator of the Financial Research and
Trading Laboratory of IIM Calcutta. He was instrumental in starting the
International Finance Conference in 2009 at IIM Calcutta. The conference is now
rechristened as India Finance Conference and is organized jointly by IIM
Calcutta, IIM Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad.
Prof
Banerjee's appointment comes following Prof Janat Shah'scompletion of his second
Term. With an additional year in-between the two terms, he was in effect at the
helm for 11 years, right from inception. Under Prof Shah’s dynamic and
visionary leadership, IIM Udaipur has emerged as a globally ranked and
accredited institute. IIM Udaipur was only the 4th IIM and youngest
B-School to get either ACCSB or EQUIS Accreditation. It became only the 3rd
IIM to be ranked in the prestigious FT Global Top 100 MIM Rankings for the 3rd
consecutive Year in 2021, as also the youngest B-School in Asia to be in it. In
QS 2022 MIM World Rankings 2022 it was the youngest B-School in the World and
only the 7th IIM. IIMU is also ranked 4th in India in
Research as per UT Dallas research ranking methodology.
In this
short history of a decade, the Institute also took several initiatives that
have set it apart.Notable amongst them are setting up a Consumer Culture Lab
(only B-School in India), Centres of Excellence in Global Supply Chain
Management, Digital Enterprise Management and Healthcare. The world, India
included, saw the immense importance of all these areas, in the recent pandemic
years.
IIM Udaipur
moved into its picturesque and pristine 300-acre campus (the largest amongst
all IIMs) in the Aravalli range at Balicha, Udaipur, in 2016.
Encapsulating
all this in its recent celebration of the 10th Anniversary of its
Foundation, the Institute used the hashtag #10YearsUnstoppable and said
#ItStartsatU, referring to its dynamism as a young, visionary management
institute. IIM Udaipur has a clear vision of becoming a globally recognised
management institute by 2030 and continues to focus on student transformation
and high-quality research as two core areas.
On the
selection of Prof Ashok Banerjee and his taking over as the Director of IIM
Udaipur, Mr Pankaj Patel, eminent
industrialist and Chairman, Board of Governors of IIM Udaipur said: "We welcome Prof Ashok Banerjee as the new Director of IIM
Udaipur. We have in him a distinguished academic and an able administrator,
best suited to lead IIM Udaipur to early fulfilment of its Vision 2030.
The Board,
and the entire IIMU Community, joins me in expressing its immense gratitude to
Prof Janat Shah for the pioneering, visionary and exemplary work done by him in
leading IIM Udaipur to the distinctive position it occupies in just a little
more than a decade of its existence. We are happy that Prof Shah will
continue as a Professor at IIMU ."
On being
appointed the newDirector of IIM
Udaipur, Prof Ashok Banerjee said, “It is with a sense of
pride and happiness that I join IIM Udaipur's remarkable journey as the
Director. I look forward to the support of the Board and all stakeholders as we
take the Institute further ahead. IIMU has a well-set vision to be a globally
recognized B-School, built on the pillars of student transformation and
excellence in research. I'm excited and privileged to be a part of it. I thank
Mr Pankaj Patel and the Board for providing me this opportunity."
Prof
Janat Shah extended his warm welcome to
Prof Ashok Banerjee and said, "I thank the Board, Advisors, faculty,
staff, students, alumni and everyone else who has ever been a part of IIM
Udaipur's path-breaking journey. It is undoubtedly their unflinching support,
dedication and inspired work that has helped us create the difference.
There is a
zeal, purpose and energy that I see at IIM Udaipur. I am sure, it will
immensely assist Prof Banerjee as he takes IIMU to the next level."
