Alok Kumar Rai will take charge as the full-time director of IIM-Calcutta on July 30.
He will formally take over from Saibal Chattopadhyay, who has been in the post since January 16, a statement said.
Rai, formerly the vice-chancellor of the University of Lucknow, "brings with him a deep commitment to academic excellence, research and institutional governance," it 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," it added.
Before serving at Lucknow University, Professor Rai was a professor of management at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and contributed to several high-level committees and academic panels.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has criticised the prolonged delay in appointing a regular director at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta.
“How long does it take to appoint a REGULAR Director for one of the most prestigious institutions in the country IIM-Calcutta, which has been without one since Sept 2023? Is the data bank in Nagpur that badly depleted? IIM Kashipur and IIM Shillong are sailing in the same boat. And recall IIM Rohtak. The Modi Govt appointed a Director and then went to court to have the person declared unfit,” Ramesh posted on X.
His remarks come amid reports that the education ministry has rejected a list of candidates for the director’s post sent by IIM Calcutta and asked the institute to restart the selection process.
The institute, has changed directors three times in three years and was on the lookout for a fourth.
The institute’s first woman director, Anju Seth, resigned in March 2021, three years into her five-year term; her successor, Uttam Kumar Sarkar, lasted a little over two years, quitting in August 2023; and the most recent incumbent, Sahadeb Sarkar, who had taken over as director-in-charge only in November 2023 and was to have served at the post till the appointment of a regular director, also exited January, 2024.
As a stopgap arrangement, IIM-Calcutta has appointed Professor Saibal Chattopadhyay as in-charge director, but the process of appointing a new full-time head was underway.
