Debashis Chatterjee, who was the director of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, (IIM-K) during 2009-2014 is returning to the post for a second term.
The post had been lying vacant for nearly four years. Besides, the IIM-K also becomes the first institute to appoint its own director autonomously after President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017 on December 31.
Dr. Chatterjee has been credited with admitting more than 50% women in its flagship postgraduate programme. A search-cum- selection committee had cleared his name three times and he was the front-runner for the post. However, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development had kept his appointment in abeyance despite mounting criticism from academics against the selection of IIM Directors through the committee, a system introduced by the BJP-led NDA government.
Newly appointed IIM-K chairman A. Vellayan during the convocation ceremony last month had declared that the utmost priority of the governing body would be to appoint of a full-time director for the institute. Kulbhushan Balooni, the senior-most faculty member, had been holding charge of the director all these years.
The new law granted statutory powers to the IIMs in their running, including the appointment of directors and faculty members as well as powers to award degrees without the interference of the government and bureaucracy.
An official release said that Dr. Chatterjee was the architect of IIM-K’s rapid growth from a relatively obscure school to a globally accredited institution of national impact. He has been a Senior Professor and Dean (International Relations) at IIM Lucknow and is currently serving as the Director General of International Management Institute, Delhi, overseeing its three campuses.
He handled the leadership classes at Harvard University and at the IIMs, Calcutta, Lucknow, and Kozhikode. He has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship twice for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral work at Harvard University.
Dr. Chatterjee is also the author of seventeen books, including Invincible Arjuna, and Timeless Leadership. He has served as the dean of an international business school in Singapore. A prolific author, inspirational teacher and columnist, Dr. Chatterjee has served as independent director on the boards of several multinational and Indian companies.
