IIM Kozhikode reappoints Prof. Debashis Chatterjee; Convocation held, Students shun Colonial Convocation Gowns for Indian Attire
IIMK has re-appointed Prof. Debashis Chatterjee as the Director of the institute for a further period of 5 years. Shri A Vellayan, Chairman BoG, IIMK made the announcement on the eve of the 25th Annual Convocation, which was held on April 8. In a first, the graduating students created history by becoming the first IIM to shun the convocation gowns and go completely ethnic.
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) Board of Governors (BoG) has re-appointed Prof. Debashis Chatterjee as the Director of the institute for a further period of 5 years, as per IIM Act 2017. Shri A Vellayan, Chairman BoG, IIMK made the announcement on the eve of the 25th Annual Convocation, which was held on April 8. Prof Chatterjee’s current tenure began in June 2018 after IIM Kozhikode became the first IIM to appoint its own Director autonomously after passing of the IIM Act in 2017.
IIMK Convocation witnessed a total of 1166 students conferred with titles and degrees. After two years of gruelling schedules and academic rigour, the class of 2023 witnessed 470 participants from the Silver Jubilee batch of IIMK’s flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP-25) being awarded the MBA degree. Besides the flagship PGP programme, the graduating students also included 10 students from IIM Kozhikode’s Doctoral Programme in Management (PhD), 64 students from the one-year full time Post Graduate Programme in Business Leadership (PGP-BL 03), 38 students from the batch of Post Graduate Programme in Finance (PGP-Finance 02) and 51 students from the Post Graduate Programme in Liberal Studies and Management (PGP-LSM 02).
The highlight of Convocation was another bold step taken by IIMK. In a first, the graduating students of IIMK Class of 2023 created history by becoming the first IIM to shun the convocation gowns and go completely ethnic to mark the Silver Jubilee of Annual Convocation. All 1166 students, both male (kurta pyjamas, mundus) and female (kurta pyjama, sarees), were dressed in traditional Indian attire in matching maroon hues to celebrate IIMK’s motto and Vision 2047 “Globalizing Indian Thought”.
Prof. Debashis Chatterjee re-appointed Director
Reappointment of Prof. Debashis Chatterjee comes as no surprise to management education experts. Prof. Chatterjee is widely credited as the architect of rapid growth of IIMK from a relatively obscure school to a globally accredited Institution of National impact.
Announcing the re-appointment of Prof. Chatterjee, Shri A Vellayan, Chairman IIMK BoG, added "IIMK Board of Governors is delighted to have Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, continue his journey with IIM Kozhikode. I am confident that his visionary leadership and team efforts will bring more laurels to the Institute as it endeavours to breach barricades and make history globally.” Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Chatterjee, added “Deeply humbled by the trust, faith and confidence reposed in me by the IIMK Board of Governors. The Institute has come a long way in its 26-year journey and together we aspire to go even further towards realising the Vision 2047 for an India which is not just best in the world but best for the world.”
Prof. Chatterjee has been a Senior Professor and Dean (International Relations) at IIM Lucknow and Director General of IMI Delhi. Professor Debashis Chatterjee has taught leadership classes at Harvard University and at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), Calcutta, Lucknow, and Kozhikode. He is the author of seventeen books.
Journey of IIM Kozhikode from obscure to prominent IIM
Started in 1997 with its Post Graduate Programme (PGP), the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) is on a high growth trajectory, offering widest range of academic programs in the field of management education. These include Fellow Programme in Management, Executive PG Programmes, Management Development Programmes and Faculty Development Programs.
Since 2018, Prof. Chatterjee, the architect of rapid growth of IIMK, has led the institution to consolidate its position as the Top 5 Management Institution in the country as per Ministry of Education’s NIRF Ranking, with a best showing of Rank #4 in 2021. This period also witnessed IIMK Kozhikode bagging the prestigious EQUIS Accreditation (2021) to complete a double crown of global recognition with the AMBA.
IIMK has also the unique distinction of launching a PhD (Practice Track) programme for working professionals besides bringing in new dynamic courses like the one-year Post Graduate programme in Business Leadership (2019) MBA in Finance and MBA in Liberal Studies & Management (2020).