Indian scholar appointed dean of business school at HKUST

An Indian management scholar has been appointed as the dean of the business school of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Professor Jitendra Vir Singh Singh, has been appointed as the Dean of the School of Business and Management at HKUST with effect from September 1, based on an open and competitive worldwide search.

Singh, an IIM-A alumnus, who left India in 1978, is currently the Saul P Steinberg Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in the US, where he has played a number of significant roles in boosting the school's global presence since joining the faculty in 1987.

"I am honoured to have been chosen to lead the School of Business and Management at HKUST and it is exciting for me to be back in Asia at a time when momentous changes are under way.

"I look forward to working with the university and business school leadership to build on the strong foundations that are already in place, and strive toward ever higher goals, while contributing both to the region and to global society," Singh said.

Professor Tony F Chan, President of HKUST, said he was very pleased that the University has found such an acclaimed scholar and able administrator to lead the Business School.

"With Prof Singh's wide-ranging experience and achievements in the academic, business strategy and policy arenas, I am certain he will bring HKUST Business School to new heights. We are excited about this appointment!"

As Wharton's Vice-Dean, International Academic Affairs, from 1998 to 2001, Singh contributed to the establishment of the Singapore Management University in Singapore, the worldwide alliance between Wharton and INSEAD, and the foundation of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

From 2007 to 2009, while on leave from Wharton, he was Dean and Shaw Foundation Chair Professor of Strategy, Management and Organisation of Nanyang Business School at Nanyang Technological University, during which time the School's profile enjoyed a substantial international ascent.

Singh received his PhD from Stanford University in 1983 and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 1975 apart from a Bachelor's degree in Science from lucknow University. He has also been awarded an MA (honoris causa) degree by the University of Pennyslvania.

He has written four books and published over 45 papers in leading management and social science journals, and has lectured to executive and academic audiences in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.

His research interests broadly span strategy and organisation, with an emphasis on multinational corporations, emerging economies, organisational evolution, and entrepreneurship.