Professor (Dr.) Anju Seth became the first woman director of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. Professor (Dr.) Anju Seth took over from Prof. Bharatendu Nath Srivastava who was the Director In-Charge of IIM Calcutta for past six months. IIM C gets its first woman Director in the five decades of its existence.

The “glass ceiling” was first cracked by Dr. Neelu Rohmetra of Jammu University who has been appointed as the Director of IIM Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, who was the first woman to helm an IIM in that capacity followed byDr. Vinita Sahay, Director at IIM Bodh Gaya.

Professor Seth is an alumnus of IIM C who completed her PhD from the University of Michigan in 1988 after completing her MBA from IIMC a decade earlier. A B.Sc (Honours) from the University of Delhi in the 1976 batch, her academic career spans for over 25 years.

She held the position of Pamplin Professor of Management at Virginia Tech, USA, recently. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she was professor of business administration and director of Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois and associate professor at the University of Houston. She has received numerous awards for her teaching and research.

IIM C board chairperson Shrikrishna Kulkarni in a report, said, “We are indeed delighted that Anju will be the first woman director of the IIM C. She was the unanimous choice of the Search-cum-Selection Committee and the Board of Governors.” She has a distinguished academic career spanning over 25 years and is on the editorial board of many scholarly journals.

The report had stated that the institute’s search panel had shortlisted three candidates, all currently teaching in US institutions — Anju Seth; Suresh Ramanathan of Mays School of Business, Texas A&M University, and Jayant Kale, teaching at D’Amore-McKim School of Business, North Eastern University.