About the Director

Professor Alok Kumar Rai

  • 16th Director, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
  • Vice Chancellor (Additional Charge), Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Institute of Higher Learning, Port Blair
  • Professor in Management, Institute of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Contact Information
EXECUTIVE PROFILE

Professor Alok Kumar Rai is an eminent academic leader, institution builder, and globally respected management thinker. As the 16th Director of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, he is steering one of the world’s foremost management institutions through a phase of strategic transformation and global consolidation.

Guided by his distinctive “5 i’s” philosophy — Integration, Inclusion, Innovation, Internationalization, and Indianisation — Prof. Rai has crafted a forward-looking institutional vision that harmonizes global competitiveness with deep-rooted civilizational ethos. His leadership reflects a rare synthesis of intellectual rigour, administrative acumen, and strategic foresight, positioning the institute as a benchmark for excellence in management education worldwide.

TEACHING EXCELLENCE
  • Advanced Pedagogy: Delivered high-impact teaching across doctoral (Ph.D.), postgraduate (MBA, MBA-IB), and executive education programmes, with specialization in Marketing Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Entrepreneurship Development.
  • Academic Evaluation: Recognized as a distinguished evaluator for doctoral theses, comprehensive examinations, and academic assessments for leading universities, as well as apex corporate and government recruitment bodies.
RESEARCH & INNOVATION
  • Scholarly Impact: A leading authority in Customer Relationship Management, with influential contributions that have significantly shaped contemporary management thought and practice.
  • Citation Credentials: Strong global academic footprint with an h-index of 14, i-10 index of 18, and over 1,400 citations.
  • Pioneering Frameworks: Conceptualized and developed advanced mathematical and theoretical models in key areas, including:
    • Customer Relationship Modelling
    • Customer Lifetime Value Analytics
    • Customer Loyalty Engineering
    • Customer Satisfaction Portfolio Management
    • Service Quality Architecture
  • Intellectual Property: Holder of 5 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in Relationship Management.
  • Funded Research: Successfully led and completed 3 major research projects funded by UGC and AICTE.
  • Doctoral Mentorship: Guided 10 doctoral scholars to the successful completion of their Ph.D. programmes.
  • Editorial Leadership: Serves as Reviewer and Editorial Advisory Board Member for leading international and national journals published by Elsevier, Emerald, Sage, and Inderscience.
  • Curriculum Leadership: Instrumental in standardizing CRM education in India through the widely adopted textbook “Customer Relationship Management: Concepts and Cases”(PHI Learning).
  • Academic Firsts: Author of India’s pioneering work on customer loyalty, “Customer Loyalty: Concept, Context and Character” (McGraw Hill).
PUBLICATIONS & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
  • Authored Books: Authored 7 authoritative books published by globally reputed academic publishers including Cengage, PHI, and McGraw Hill.
  • Edited Volumes: Edited 5 scholarly volumes with leading publishers such as MacMillan, Himalaya, and Excel.
  • Research Publications: Published over 75 research papers in high-impact journals indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, ABDC, and UGC Care.
  • Book Chapters: Contributed 10+ chapters in edited volumes by reputed international publishers.
  • Public Discourse: Regular contributor to national thought leadership through over 30 published articles in leading media platforms such as The Times of India, The Hindu BusinessLine, Hindustan Times, Outlook, Firstpost, The Telegraph, and Governance Now.
ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION & GOVERNANCE
  • Apex Leadership:
    • Director, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (July 30, 2025 – Present), leading strategic global positioning and institutional excellence initiatives.
    • Vice Chancellor (Additional Charge), Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Institute of Higher Learning, Port Blair (March 11, 2026 – Present).
    • Vice Chancellor (Two Terms), University of Lucknow (Dec 2019 – July 2025), where he drove transformative reforms and achieved landmark academic and administrative milestones.
    • Held additional leadership responsibilities at SampurnanandSanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University, and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University.
  • Strategic Policy & National Frameworks:
    • Member, Empowered Committee for onboarding Higher Education Institutions under the proposed Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
    • Chair and key contributor to multiple Government of Uttar Pradesh committees on NEP 2020 implementation, State HEI rankings, Ph.D. regulations, and Institutional Development Plans (IDPs).
    • Member, High-Level Committee for the 125th Birth Anniversary commemoration of Dr. Hare Krushna Mahtab, chaired by the Hon’ble Home Minister of India.
  • Institutional Governance:
    • Member, Board of Governors, IIITM Gwalior.
    • Member, Executive and General Councils of premier institutions including NUJS Kolkata, NCERT, and NAAC.
    • Member, University Senates and Councils including the University of Jammu and the University of Kashmir.
  • Quality Assurance:
    • Widely recognized expert for accreditation, assessment, and institutional evaluation by MHRD and NAAC across universities and technical institutions in India.
AWARDS, HONOURS & MEMBERSHIPS
  • Honorary Doctorates: Conferred Honoris Causa by the University of Engineering and Management, Kolkata (January 2026) and Techno India University, Kolkata (2025).
  • National Service Honour: Appointed Honorary Colonel Commandant (May 2025) by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, in recognition of exemplary contributions to the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
  • Leadership Awards: Recipient of the LMA Leadership Award (2021) and the U.P. Ratna Award (2019).
  • Professional Affiliations: Member of distinguished academic and professional bodies including AMDISA, AIMS, CRM Academy of Asia, and the ISOL Research Foundation.
EXTENSION & OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
  • Global Engagements: Delivered over 100 keynote addresses, presidential lectures, and invited talks at prestigious national and international conferences, seminars, and Faculty Development Programmes.
  • Strategic Consultancy: Provided executive training and advisory services to key government institutions (Ministry of Defence, Department of Posts & Telegraph) and leading Public Sector Undertakings including BSNL, NTPC, ECGC, and REC.
  • Academic Leadership in Events: Successfully led the organization of 5 International Conferences, 12 National Conferences, and 5 National Faculty Development Programmes, strengthening institutional visibility and academic collaboration.