Dipak Jain Becomes A Dean Again

Dipak Jain

Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand yesterday (July 7) named the former dean of two of the world’s best business schools its director.

Dipak C. Jain, who had been dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and INSEAD, will succeed  Toemsakdi Krishnamra, who founded Sasin and has led the school of management for the past 32 years. Krishnamra will serve as a member of the Sasin Executive Council.

Landing Dipak Jain is something of a coup for the school which is currently unranked in any of the most influential rankings of the world’s top business schools. The school’s MBA program is taught by visiting professors from other programs, including Sasin’s founding partners Kellogg and Wharton.  The Sasin MBA program is delivered in English, in Bangkok, Thailand. Courses are scheduled during six five-week modules each year, and 80% to 85% of the MBA students are Thai.

Dipak Jain brings extensive international experience as an educator and business school administrator. He has been a visiting professor of marketing at Sasin since 1989. Most recently, he was a chaired professor of marketing at INSEAD where he served as dean of INSEAD from 2011-2013 until an illness led to his resignation. He also served as dean of the Kellogg School from 2001-2009, where he had been a faculty member since 1986.

“I’m honored and privileged to follow in the footsteps of Professor Krishnamra, who has been a mentor to me for 25 years, and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues, the students, and the alumni of Sasin,” Jain said in a statement. “With additional programs at our new Phuket campus, we can ensure that Sasin continues to be a pioneer in management education and one of the leading business schools in the ASEAN region.”

“Professor Jain is uniquely qualified to lead Sasin in our fourth decade,” Krishnamra said in a statement announcing the leadership change. “Since he has been teaching here since 1989, there are now thousands of Sasin students and alumni who have taken his courses and who still look back on their time with him as one of their best Sasin experiences. I know that he is a gifted educator and an experienced administrator who will serve Sasin well.”