Last month, the University of Oxford appointed Professor Soumitra Dutta as the new Dean of Saïd Business School. Professor Dutta is currently Professor of Management at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, where he was also the founding Dean. He will take up his new post as Dean of Oxford Saïd on June 1st of this year.
Prior to his time at Cornell, he was on the faculty and leadership team of INSEAD, a leading international business school in France and Singapore. He is also the current Chair of the Global Business School Network.
We had a word with Professor Dutta to discuss this exciting news and hear about his goals for the upcoming year.
What are you looking forward to as you make this transition into your new role at Oxford’s Saïd Business School?
“It is an honour to be appointed as Dean of the School. It is a unique institution placed within one of the world’s greatest universities. I very much look forward to collaborating with colleagues, students and alumni within Oxford Saïd and across Oxford, and being part of this diverse, exciting and innovative community.”
Can you tell us about your goals for the school in the coming year(s) in light of existing and emerging challenges facing the world?
“The Saïd school is relatively young, so business discipline as a whole is relatively new to Oxford. It’s a great chance to take something very good and move it to an even higher level of excellence, and do this while at the heart of a great world university.
The Saïd school is well positioned to leverage the strengths of the University of Oxford to help bring the power of business to solve great challenges facing our societies and the planet. Doing this will not be easy. It will require radical collaboration across different disciplines and the courage to experiment and innovate with technology breakthroughs.”
How do you see your move to Oxford benefitting Portulans Institute?
“The Portulans Institute Academic Network has engaged world-leading universities, including faculty members and graduate students in research related to technology, innovation and talent. I expect that the Saïd Business School will become an active member of this Academic Network. I look forward to the many synergies and opportunities that this partnership will bring in the coming years.”
