ABOUT FLAME UNIVERSITY
Deans of Faculties
Dean - Faculty of Business (Acting)
Dr. Venkataramanan received his Doctorate Degree in Business Analysis and MS in Business Computing Science from Texas A&M University. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, University of Madras.
He joined the Kelley School of Business faculty in 1987 same year he received his Doctorate Degree. He served as the Chair of the Operations and Decision Technologies Department from 1997 to 2003, the Lawrence D. Glaubinger Chair of Business Administration and Chair, Undergraduate Programs from 2005 to 2009, and Associate Dean-Academic Programs from 2009 to 2012. In October 2012, he was appointed Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives for Indiana University Bloomington, promoted to Vice Provost of Finance and Strategy in 2016, and to Executive Vice Provost for Finance, Budget and Strategy in 2021.
Dean - Undergraduate Education and Innovation
Dr. Santosh Kumar Kudtarkar holds a Master’s in Physics from IIT-Madras and a Ph.D. 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 Modelling in the Social and Management Sciences. He is passionate about Quantitative Models and has completed multiple industrial projects.
Dean - Faculty of Liberal Education
Prof. Andrea Phillott has broad experience as a field and laboratory research biologist and a specialised research focus on the biology and conservation of sea turtles and other marine megafauna in South and Southeast Asia and Australia.
Associate Dean - Faculty of Design, Art and Performance
Dr Amit Kundal is Associate Professor and Dean at the School of Design, Art and Performance, FLAME University. He holds a PhD in Human-Centred Design and a Master of Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a Bachelor’s degree in Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhinagar. He has also been part of global design programs such as Stanford University’s ME310 Design Innovation course and Aalto University’s Product Development Project (PdP) in Finland.
Dean, Faculty of Computing and Data Science
Prof. Manoranjan Dash is a Professor and Dean of Computing and Data Science at FLAME University. He has received his Doctorate Degree and Master’s Degree in Computer Science from National University of Singapore, Singapore. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India. He is also a Postdoctoral Fellow from Northwestern University, USA.
Dean, Faculty of Communication
Dr. Kwak is the Dean of the School of Communication, B.M. Labroo Chair Professor of Marketing, and Professor of Marketing at FLAME University. Before joining FLAME, he served as the IIMA Chair Professor and Professor of Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). He also held the position of Professor of Marketing (tenured) at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business for 20 years, where he was recognized as the Dean's Research Fellow, Distinguished Teaching Fellow, and Marketing Ph.D. Coordinator. Dr. Kwak holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from the Terry College of Business and an M.A. in Advertising from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, both at The University of Georgia. He is also an International Research Fellow at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, and has been a visiting faculty member at institutions such as the University of Amsterdam, KAIST Business School, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in South Korea among others.
Dean - Research
Prasad Pathak is a physical geographer with specialization in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems. Using these techniques Prasad studies various environmental phenomena. For his doctoral work, Prasad studied glacial lakes in arctic Alaska for changes in their trophic structure and its links with surrounding landscapes. He completed his doctoral degree from University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), NC, USA.
Dean - Doctoral Program
Aparna Shankar is a Professor in Psychology at FLAME University. Aparna holds a doctorate degree in health psychology from the University of Leeds. Her doctoral thesis examined psychosocial predictors of maintenance of health behaviours. She also holds MSc in Applied Statistics with Medical Applications from Birkbeck, University of London.
Dean - Programs (Student Academic Affairs)
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.