Prof. Debashis Chatterjee resumed charge as Director of the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) on Friday. This is his second term at IIM Kozhikode. IIM-K is the first IIM to appoint its own director autonomously after the President gave his assent to the Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017 on December 31. IIM-K did not have a full time director for nearly four years after Prof Chatterjee completed his first term, which lasted from 2009 to 2014.
Prof Chatterjee has been a dynamic force at IIM Kozhikode. Having taught at Harvard and IIMs, he knows what education brings to the table, both in the East and the West. During his last tenure, he transformed IIM-K, making it an institution of national impact and global reckoning. Under his leadership, the percentage of women enrolling in the flagship post graduate programme increased to 54 per cent. The policy was a game changer that brought some much-needed gender diversity in the classroom at IIMs.
Speaking about his second innings, Prof Debashis Chaterjee said: “I see education as the most powerful instrument of social transformation and resurgence of the nation. IIM Kozhikode will strive to make an enduring impact in solving industry, organisational and social problems and in uplifting the quality of management practices in India. IIM-K has been a pioneer in many dimensions. We wish to revive our commitment to building up our social capital, enhancing gender diversity, and ‘internationalising’ the IIM-K campus. Our very luminous mission of ‘Globalising Indian Thought’ is the DNA of all that we will aspire for in the future.”
In the next few years, the Prof Chatterjee says the institute plans to enhance the quality and volume of executive education and modifying the model; enhancing international linkages and attracting talented faculty of international standing ; working closely with the Government of Kerala towards strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of its governance, and also its various development and welfare programmes; working closely with the Small and Medium Enterprises in Kerala.; and finally, launching new programmes, such as in Maritime Management, as Kozhikode is a a coastal city.
Prof Chatterjee has also been a Senior Professor and Dean (International Relations) at IIM Lucknow and has served as Director General of IMI Delhi, overseeing three campuses. He has over two decades of experience in teaching where he has taught at internationally-renowned schools such as Harvard University.