Nitin Nohria becomes first Indian-origin Dean at Harvard

Harvard Business School has appointed Indian-origin Nitin Nohria as its 10th Dean, making him the first member from the community to occupy the post in the prestigious institution's 102-year old history. Nohria, the Richard P Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), will take up his new role on July 1, President Drew Faust said Wednesday. A scholar of leadership and organisational change, Nohria has previously been the School's senior associate dean for faculty development and chair of its organisational behaviour unit.

A current co-chair of the HBS Leadership Initiative and member of the HBS faculty since 1988, Nohria succeeds Jay Light, who in December announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2009-10 academic year after five years as dean and four decades of service on the HBS faculty. At a pivotal moment for Harvard Business School and for business education more generally, I'm delighted that Nitin Nohria has agreed to lead HBS forward. He's an outstanding scholar, teacher and mentor, with a global outlook and an instinct for collaboration across traditional boundaries," Faust said. On his appointment as Dean, Nohria said, "I feel a profound sense of responsibility for continuing Harvard Business School's proud legacy of groundbreaking ideas and transformational educational experiences.