Director of premier B-school Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A), has resigned citing personal reasons. Professor Ashish Nanda was a serving director for around 3.5 years. He vacates the post in September. It is noteworthy here that he had quit his post at Harvard Law School to return to India and his alma mater IIM-A after 20 years.
Personal Reasons Cited
So what propelled this sudden decision? “There are two reasons behind the decision and its time. First, my wife and son are far away from here and I want to spend time with them. Besides, the institute is doing great at this time with support and cooperation of the chairman (Kumar Mangalam Birla) and alumni. So this was the right time to take the decision,” Nanda told TOI.
Short excerpt from Nanda’s Letter to IIM-A
“Dear members of the IIMA community, these past three and a half years, I have woken up every day feeling fortunate to be working for an institution that has contributed tremendously to me. I feel privileged to have followed the footsteps of people I greatly admire, to have had the opportunity to lead the institute at a crucial time in its trajectory, and to have contributed to the best of my ability to its continuing success. I believe we are at a point when there is alignment among various constituencies of the institute as to the direction we ought to follow and considerable momentum along the path that we are following.This is as good a time as any for leadership transition at the Institute. Thus, I have requested IIM A chairman Mr Birla that I step aside from the position of director, and he has graciously acceded to my request.”
Nanda’s resignation has been accepted by the chairman of the institute Kumar Mangalam Birla.
