Dr Alok Kumar Rai on Wednesday officially took over as the new Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta on Wednesday, becoming the fourth person to hold the post in the last three years.

The appointment was announced by Shrikrishna Kulkarni, Chairperson of the IIM Calcutta Board of Governors. “On behalf of the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta and the entire IIM Calcutta community, it is my privilege to welcome Dr Alok Kumar Rai as our next Director,” Kulkarni said. “As the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lucknow, he comes to IIM Calcutta with a strong commitment to academic and research excellence, infrastructure development and good governance.”

Dr Rai began his academic career as a professor at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). During his tenure as Vice-Chancellor, Lucknow University had become the first institution in the state of Uttar Pradesh to receive an A++ grade accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

In this position, he succeeds Professor Saibal Chattopadhyay, who had been the acting director-in-charge since January 2024. The statement said, “The Institute looks forward to his leadership in steering IIM Calcutta through its next phase of growth, especially in an era of global transformation and AI-driven change.”

The appointment of Rai marks a return to full-time leadership at the premier business school after months of interim arrangements. The institute’s first woman director, Anju Seth, resigned in March 2021, three years into her five-year term. Her successor, Uttam Kumar Sarkar, stepped down in August 2023 after a little over two years. In November 2023, Professor Sahadeb Sarkar was appointed director-in-charge but exited in January 2024. Since then, Professor Saibal Chattopadhyay had been serving as the acting director while the process to appoint a regular director was underway.