Excerpts from an online interview with Carlson school’s dean after her appointment was announced.
Your thoughts on your appointment?
The research that Carlson School faculty and graduate students are doing in areas such as sustainability, social media and business
analytics is on the leading edge of discovery, and I have no doubt that we will be shaping the future of business. I could not be more thrilled to be named dean of Carlson School at this exciting time in our history.
What is behind Indian Americans heading so many US business schools?
A lot of students from the very best Indian schools came to the US to do their PhDs in the 70s and 80s. What you are seeing is their coming of age.
Do you see emerging countries such as India contributing to business governance? How?
India is at an amazing stage. However, there still isn’t an understanding or commitment locally in India of the need to systematically question and examine ideas with critical thinking and good data (which is what research is about), and to disseminate this knowledge.
So India’s contribution to advancing studies of business governance or anything else remains largely in the realm of potential rather than realisation, although there are pockets of change. We need to strengthen the research culture in India. And the world is very interested!