Sunil Kumar (www.chicagobooth.edu)

Academician Sunil Kumar has been re-appointed as dean of the University of Chicago’s premier business school for a second five-year term, recognizing his “energetic leadership,” writes Yoshita Singh.

Kumar had been named Dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in 2011. Late last month, the University announced that he will continue to head the institution, with President Robert Zimmer and Provost Eric Isaacs commending Kumar for his energetic leadership, which they said has earned the respect of the school’s worldwide community.

“We look forward to working with Sunil in the years ahead to ensure that Booth remains a preeminent destination for business education and scholarship,” a report in UChicagoNews quoted Zimmer and Isaacs as saying.

“He has demonstrated a commitment to the success of Booth’s faculty individually and as a whole, and to the success of Booth students and alumni in Chicago and around the globe,” it added.

The report added that under Kumar’s leadership, Booth has broadened and strengthened its intellectual footprint, recruiting and expanding faculty with expertise in diverse areas ranging from marketing to operations management.

Kumar has also supported students in realizing their broader aspirations by expanding student scholarships.

Prior to Booth, Kumar spent 14 years on the faculty of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

In 2010, Nitin Nohria became the first Indian-origin head of Harvard Business School. Last year, noted Indian-American academician Rakesh Khurana was appointed Dean of the prestigious Harvard College, the school within Harvard University that grants undergraduate degrees.