Fr P Christie has been appointed the new Director of XLRI (Xavier School of Management), Jamshedpur, among the top B-schools in India. He was earlier the Director of the Loyola Institute of Business Administration (Chennai) for 11 years.
Fr Christie took over from Fr E Abraham, who handed over the reins after completion of his second term. Fr Abraham has been the longest serving Director of XLRI; his total tenure spanned for over 16 years across two terms. He is also an alumnus of XLRI.
Fr Christie’s association with LIBA goes back to 1999, where he started as Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences and later became the Dean before becoming the Director. He holds an MBA and Ph.D. in business administration from St Louis University in the US with a major in decision sciences. He also holds a master’s degree in statistics from Madras Christian College, Chennai. With his vast experience in evaluations and strategic planning he has undertaken several consulting assignments and strategic planning of programmes and organisations in India and abroad.
Holistic growth
Fr Christie said, “XLRI’s mission-led growth over seven decades has been guided by four important hallmarks of Jesuit education — ‘excellence’, ‘integrity and ethics’, ‘holistic growth of an individual’ and ‘social consciousness’. Excellence and ethics are important elements of XLRI’s DNA and is passed on to every student of the institution. One of the goals of XLRI is to nurture responsible leaders who are conscious and sensitive towards the needs of less privileged sections of society.”
TV Narendran, Chairman, Board of Governors at XLRI and MD, Tata Steel, said, “Fr Abraham’s contribution to the field of management education has been immense. It is under his exemplary leadership and guidance, XLRI has reached great heights and has become one of the leading management institutions in the country. We are equally proud to be associated with another stalwart, Fr P Christie and welcome him to the XL family. I am confident that XLRI will achieve newer heights of success and reputation under his able leadership and guidance in the years ahead.”