Srikant Datar who is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Bombay and IIM, Ahmedabad became the second consecutive Indian-origin dean of the Harvard Business School. Before him, Nitin Nohria was the leading the prestigious 112 years old premier education institution.
President of Harvard University, Larry Bacow said that Srikant would take over as the dean of the Business school from 1st January next year. Currently, Srikant is the senior associate dean for University Affairs as well as the Arther Lowes Dickinson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.
Harvard Business School is an esteemed institution throughout the world, and it has carried on its legacy in research and education for well over a century. Bacow has called Srikant a highly experienced academic guide, renowned scholar and an innovative teacher. Datar took the helm and guided the Harvard Business School during the recent significant challenges faced by them due to the Coronavirus pandemic. For the previous 25 years, Datar has taken the responsibility of several administrative positions at the HBS while contributing to other schools.
Srikant Datar is going to become the 11th dean for the HBS. The current dean Mr Nohria was going to end his employment in June 2020, but looking at current unprecedented events, he has agreed to continue till December of this year. Bacow has said that Datar also provides an international perspective to his work as he has presented his research to academics across the globe. Along with that on behalf of HBS, he has visited many international countries and institutes.
Srikant Datar got his undergraduate degree from the University of Bombay in 1973, with distinction. Then he pursued the career of a chartered accountant and later earned a diploma in business management from the Indian Insititute of Management, Ahmedabad. He completed his masters in statistics and economics and a Doctorate in business from the University of Standford. He became assistant and associate professor at the Carnegie Mellon Graduate School of Industrial Administration from 1984 to 1989. Followed by this, he was the Littlefield Professor of Accounting and Management at Standford Graduate School from 1989 to 1996.
The statement by Harvard School of Business states that Datar has served at various prominent positions as the school’s senior associate dean for different departments like faculty recruiting and development, research, executive education and as of now University affairs. Datar also heads the Harvard Innovation (i-Lab) as the faculty chair. He is also a part of the governing body at IIM, Calcutta.
Mr Nohria called Srikant Datar as an excellent choice to head the Harvard School of Business because of his innovative outlook at the management education, he has deep ties with the HBS and has thoroughly thought about the obstacles and opportunities in this field. Bacow went on to reinforce their decision by saying that Datar has years of experience in business management, envisioning and implementing new teaching techniques and incredible drive for creating a diverse community at HBS.
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