94: Rajiv Ranjan (Chandigarh University) on Starting a Business School in India

Our guest today is Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs at Chandigarh University in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, a position he took on in March 2026. Prior to that, he served as Dean of Integral Business School, also in Lucknow, where his impactful leadership resulted in positive gains in most areas under his purview. Prior to moving into academia in 2024, Rajiv was a Principal Consultant and Associate Partner at Ernst & Young in India, where he specialized on initiatives and partnerships involving education. In this fascinating conversation focused on his brief-but-effective tenure at IBS, Rajiv shares with us what he's learned in his career transition from consulting to academia, and how he turned that into a successful business school. Topics discussed include: • Starting a new business school • Managing risk • Leveraging the corporate community • Developing an AI philosophy • Fostering new idea generation • Nurturing leadership talent Learn more about Rajiv Ranjan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drranjan/ Comments/criticism/suggestions/feedback? We'd love to hear it. Drop us a note at [email protected] Thanks for listening. - Produced by Joel Davis at Analog Digital Arts -- DEANS COUNSEL: A podcast for deans and academic leadership. James Ellis | Moderator | Dean of the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (2007-2019) David Ikenberry | Moderator | Dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder (2011-2016) Ken Kring | Moderator | Co-Managing Director, Global Education Practice and Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry DeansCounsel.com