Updated on: Friday, August 23, 2013
Harvard Law School professor Ashish Nanda's appointment as the director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) may attract senior faculty members from foreign universities to the prestigious institute.
Faculty members said that the institute is a preferred destination for young faculty members from the US and other countries. However, with Nanda as the chief, the institute may attract experienced faculty members from around the world.
The institute plans to hire 10 faculty members this year, out of which five have already been recruited. One of the faculty members is from a leading university in the US.
"Prof Nanda will make the institute attractive to global faculty members with experience. In fact, we are in the process of hiring a faculty of Indian origin from the US after Prof Nanda's appointment was announced," said an official at the institute.
Currently, IIM-A has one of the finest faculty members in the world, with more than half the faculty members having PhDs from prominent universities abroad. Most faculty at IIM-A have prior experience at eminent business schools such as London Business School, University of Texas at Austin, McGill University, Tulane University, and University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
A senior faculty member said that Nanda's appointment will speed up the process of bringing more world class talent. "Faculty joining for short-term assignments may be the first step. With a person of Prof Nanda's caliber at the helm, experienced people may now like to work in India at IIM-A," the faculty member said.