Pulak Ghosh, a professor of quantitative methods and information systems at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, will join Presidency University as its first chair professor in economics, a post funded by the Infosys Foundation.

Ghosh, 41, has been selected by a search committee comprising Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dilip Mookherjee, professor of economics at Boston University; and Presidency vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia. The university's governing board approved the choice on Sunday.

"Pulak Ghosh has accepted the offer to join Presidency University. An expert in the field of Big Data Analytics, he would provide academic leadership in the economics department," Lohia told Metro.

Ghosh, who has been chosen from among three academics shortlisted for the post, will come to Presidency on a two-year lien from IIM Bangalore.

Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty had donated Rs 5 crore to Presidency University in February to set up a chair professor post in economics.

Ghosh, who grew up in Calcutta, is an alumnus of Ballygunge Government School and Asutosh College. He serves in the advisory group of Big Data at the UN Global Pulse - the only Indian in the 20-member body. His research interest is econometrics and allied areas.

Econometrics is the application of mathematics, statistical methods and computer science to economic data and is described as the branch of economics that aims to give empirical content to economic relations.

Asked what prompted him to join Presidency, Ghosh said: "A university of the city is taking a lot of initiatives to emerge as a centre of excellence and anybody would look forward to get associated with such an institution. Besides the offer of Infosys Foundation chair professor is a prestigious offer.... One feels honoured to get selected by persons like Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and Dilip Mookherjee."

Asked whether he was bucking the trend at a time teachers are quitting Presidency, Ghosh said: "I have read about teachers leaving Presidency. But I don't know the exact reasons. I don't think I would have any problem in teaching at Presidency."

Since the College Street institution started out as university in July 2011, about 15 teachers have quit. The last one to quit was Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, who had joined as Acharya Jagadis Chandra Bose Distinguished University Professor in Natural Science. There are four other posts of distinguished professor at the university.

Presidency chief mentor Sugata Bose said: "It's endearing to know that we have been able to select a professor of IIM Bangalore for the (Infosys Foundation) post. Ghosh is expected to provide the department the required leadership."

Chair professor

The Presidency governing board on Sunday approved the name of Rupendra Kumar Chattopadhyay, a professor of archaeology at Calcutta University, as Paresh Chandra Chatterjee Distinguished University Professor of History.