Academic Council

Professor Dishan Kamdar is the Vice Chancellor of the FLAME University – the pioneer of liberal education in India. He took charge of this position on August 8, 2018. Prior to this, he was the Deputy Dean, Academic Programmes and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian School of Business (ISB), the top ranked global business school in India. A leading researcher, senior faculty member, executive coach to CEOs of renowned corporates and family businesses in India, and a favourite professor to all his students- Dishan handles these multifaceted roles with equal ease.

Professor D. P. Agrawal is the Chairman, Union Public Service commission (UPSC), New Delhi since 16th August 2008, prior to which he was a Member in the Union Public Service Commission since 31st October 2003. The Commission is a constitutional body under Article 315 of the Constitution of India that is mandated to recruit and promote senior civil servants for the country. It also advises the Government on all aspects of recruitment, including the framing of rules and matters of discipline related to different Government of India Services. The Chairman is appointed by the President of India and is at 9A in the Government of India Warrant of precedence.

Prof. Diganta has worked as Human Resource Management professional for more than five years following his PGDBM from Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM), Kolkata, in 2000. During this time, he has worked in diverse industries such as consulting, healthcare and manufacturing. In 2005, he joined the three-year Management Teacher Program offered by ICFAI Institute for Management Teachers, Hyderabad as a Research Scholar and completed advanced level coursework in management as part of the program. He was a Visiting Scholar at College of Business Administration, University of Toledo, Ohio, USA between 2007 & 2008.

Dr. Maya Dodd received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Modern Thought and Literature. Subsequently, she received post-doctoral fellowships at Princeton University and JNU, India. She also taught in the department of Anthropology at Princeton University and in English departments at Stanford and the University of Florida. Currently, she teaches Literary and Cultural Studies at FLAME and also founded FLAME's Centre for South Asia.

Rafiq Dossani is director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy (CAPP), a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He works on education, regional development, security, finance, and technology issues. Projects in education include the relationship between financing, governance and ownership in higher education, addressing the digital divide in early childhood education, college search, and blended delivery models in higher education. Projects in regional development include the political economy of trade in South Asia and Pakistan's urbanization.

Prof. Sujay Joshi has over 30 years of experience in fund management, corporate finance and in general management in the manufacturing sector. He has initiated developed and implemented strategy for many corporates with a view to enhance shareholder value.

Dr. Santosh Kumar Kudtarkar holds a Masters in Physics from IIT-Madras and a  PhD from The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (MATSCIENCE), Chennai. A Theoretical Physicist by training, his research interests are in applications of field theory in High energy and Condensed Matter Physics, Dynamical Systems and Mathematical Modeling in the Social and Management Sciences. He is passionate about Quantitative Models and has successfully completed multiple industrial projects.

Dinesh has a combined industrial and academic experience of more than 22 years. Between 1995 and 2009, Dinesh was associated with companies such as Infosys, ANZ Bank, Thomson Corporation and Barclays Capital. During this period, as a project manager, he successfully executed several software development projects, including a web-based forwards and options trading system for the ANZ Bank, Melbourne, and a risk management platform for Barclays Capital, Singapore.

Associate Dean - Faculty of Communication

Prof. Sajith is an excellent teacher of marketing and entrepreneurship. His passion for teaching lead him to join academics at a relatively young age after a learning stint in the industry and as an entrepreneur. He became an entrepreneur instead of taking up his campus placement offer. He set up Plink Solutions, a communication consultancy for SMEs and NGOs, in Ahmadabad. He also participated in numerous other start-ups in the for-profit and social space. He received the Star Entrepreneur Award in 2011 at 4th Indira India Innovation Summit, held in Pune. Before joining MICA he worked with Standard Chartered Bank as a Team Leader.

Tejas Patani is a member of the proprietary investing team of ENAM Holdings Pvt. Ltd. ENAM Holdings is a privately managed principal investment group with a long heritage of investing in the Indian capital markets. Prior to ENAM, Tejas worked at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in New York as a member of their U.S. Large Cap Equity Research Team. He is a CFA charterholder. He holds a B.S., magna cum laude, from Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University. An avid sportsman, he plays cricket, volleyball and squash regularly. A relentless passion for perfection and an eye for detail are the hallmarks of his organizing abilities.

Viraj Shah is an archaeologist, specialized in ancient Indian art, architecture, iconography and socio-religious history. She has Master’s degrees in Ancient Indian Culture and Archaeology from Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, and in History from Mumbai University. She earned her Ph.D. in Archaeology from Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University), Pune. Her doctoral dissertation has been published under the title of ‘Jaina Rock-cut Caves of Western India’.

Prof. Khalid Sheikh has authored a book “Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)” (McGraw-Hill Professional, New York) and numerous articles in national and international magazines.

He has a total of 26 years of working experience; some of the organizations he has worked in include:

Prof. Vidwans was a Senior Designer (Professor) and an Ex-Vice Chairman (Research) at National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. He also headed the Departments of New Media and Software Users Interface Design at NID, Ahmedabad. He is a visiting faculty at IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Kanpur, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, D. J Academy of Design, Coimbtore, and Pt. Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar. Dr. Vidwans is a cognitive philosopher, a designer and a portrait painter.

Fellow of IIM Ahmedabad (Business Policy), B.Tech (Hons.) (Mechanical Engineering), IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Shekhar Chaudhuri is a B.Tech (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and a Fellow of IIM Ahmedabad with specialization in Business Policy. He taught at IIMA from March 1981 till November 2002.

Member Secretary

Virender Sharma is a post graduate in English from Panjab University and holds a Ph.D. in Education from University of Pune.

With over three decades’ association with some of the leading and premier educational institutions of the country, he brings a wealth of experience and expertise in academic administration. Prior to joining FLAME, he was the Head of Administration of the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune for over ten years. Preceding that, he held the position of Registrar at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune.