Prof Devanath Tirupati of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) took over as director in-charge of the institute yesterday, after the extended term of Prof Pankaj Chandra, the earlier director, came to an end.
Prof Tirupati is currently the dean (academic) of IIM-B. He has completed a BTech from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras; PGDM from IIM Calcutta, and a PhD from Sloan School of Management, MIT. He is serving at IIM-B since April 2009. His tenure will be for 3 months or till the institute finds a new director, whichever is earlier.
Speaking to PaGaLGuY exclusively on becoming the director in-charge, Prof Tirupati said, “I have been appointed for an interim period till the board and government appoints a new director. I will continue with what’s going on. I am only an acting director and not expected to bring in major change.”
He lauded the efforts of his predecessor Prof Chandra. He said, “The institute now is recognised much more globally, and a large part is due to Prof Chandra’s efforts. You just need to take a look at the institute 5-6 years back and where it has reached now. Most of the credit has to go to him.”
Prof Tirupati steered clear on the controversy surrounding the appointment of the new director. “The new director’s appointment is not yet complete. I am not involved in the process and not aware of any controversy. I cannot say anything about it,” he said.
Mr Chandra was at the helm from December 2007. Some reports have suggested that his name was in the running for a second term. A source reveals that he was unhappy since there was a delay in the appointment of the director’s post and he was not made an offer immediately. Boston University Professor Sushil Vachani’s name was also doing the rounds as one of the frontrunners for the post. However, there is no news on that front yet.