India-born Nohria appointed Harvard B-school dean

Indian-American Nitin Nohria was today named the 10th Dean of Harvard Business School (HBS). The first person of Indian origin to achieve this honour, he will assume charge on July 1.

Nohria succeeds Jay Light, who will step down at the end of the current academic year, HBS said in a release today. In December 2009, Light had announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2009-10 academic year after five years as dean and four decades of “distinguished service” at HBS, which has been ranked as the world’s third best MBA institute in 2010 by the Financial Times.

Forty-eight-year-old Nohria has taught at HBS since 1988. He joined the HBS faculty as an assistant professor in 1988, and was appointed associate professor in 1993. He was promoted in tenure in 1997, and became the Richard P Chapman Professor of Business Administration two years later. Nohria earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1984 from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, and a PhD in management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT in 1988. He has written, with his colleague Rakesh Khurana, 12 books, and most recently the Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice.

Harvard University President Drew G Faust expects Nohria to bring a global outlook and a strong appetite for innovation to the more than century-old business school. “At a pivotal moment for Harvard Business School and for business education more generally, I am delighted that Nohria has agreed to lead HBS forward. He is an outstanding scholar, teacher, and mentor, with a global outlook and an instinct for collaboration across traditional boundaries. He has an intimate knowledge of the School and a strong appetite for innovation,” said Faust.

Harvard Business School has always held significance for India. Around 600 alumni members are in India, including prominent industrialists like Rahul Bajaj and Anand Mahindra. With India opening its doors to foreign education institutions, Nohria’s appointment as dean at HBS is of added significance.

HBS, for instance, has decided to have a classroom of its own in the country for its executive education programmes. HBS and its India Research Center (IRC), which was set up in 2006, plan to offer three executive education programmes in India from April to July 2010 — Building a Global Enterprise in India; Develop India-Strategies for Growth and Managing; and Transforming Professional Service Firms. The programmes are for senior executives of Indian companies and multinational companies operating in India, as well as managers and investors interested in expanding operations to India. The B-school had been conducting executive education or management development programmes (MDPs) in India since 2008. Now it is planning its own centre in India for executive education programmes which have been growing. HBS did two programmes in India in 2008 and one programme in 2009. The Indian corporate sector, has welcomed Nohria’s appointment.

“Nitin’s elevation to the position is a real honour for him and richly deserved,” said S Ramadorai, Vice Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services. “His commitment to teaching and institution building is very evident in all that he does. He is at the right age, and this is the right time. I am particularly proud that someone of Indian origin has a chance to lead one of America’s best-known institutions of higher learning. I am sure Nitin will take Harvard to  its next level of leadership.”