BITS School of Management appoints Saravanan Kesavan as new dean

NEW DELHI: BITS School of Management (BITSoM Mumbai) has appointed Saravanan Kesavan as its new dean. Kesavan has 16 years experience at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, where he also served as the associate dean of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

He has completed his PhD in technology and operations management from Harvard Business School. He secured advanced degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a B-Tech from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Kesavan takes over from BITSoM’s founding dean Ranjan Banerjee.

Kesavan is renowned for his exceptional teaching skills at the Kenan-Flagler Business School's MBA programme. He has been honoured with the MBA All Star Teaching Award on 14 occasions and received the Weatherspoon Award for Excellence in MBA Teaching. Additionally, he was recognised as the Best Teacher for Core Teaching by the Indian School of Business.

A dedicated researcher, Kesavan's contributions have appeared in prestigious journals like Management Science, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (MSOM), and Production and Operations Management. His research has been featured in mainstream media such as The New York Times, The Economist, Forbes and was acknowledged in the 2022 Economic Report of the US President.

BITS Pilani chancellor Kumar Mangalam Birla said, “As a key member of the founding team, Dr Banerjee played a pivotal role in establishing a firm foundation for BITSoM, fostering strong ties with both students and corporates.”

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Ranjan Banerjee was instrumental in developing initiatives such as the tailored personal development programme, mentorship programme, the management ideas festival 'Beacon', and in building a robust career services team, Birla added.