An important aspect of institution building is a record of the trajectory of the growth of the institution. The subject of documenting the journey of IIMB since its inception in 1973, through a series of publications and outputs, leading up to a comprehensive history of IIMB ahead of the Golden Jubilee year in 2023, was mooted by the Director, Professor G. Raghuram, in June 2017.
It is only befitting that the first output from the IIMB History Project should be a record of the experiences of the former Directors of the Institute, those who have been at the helm and have led from the front.
The curtain raiser to the IIMB History Project was the panel discussion on ‘Building the IIMB Institution – A Directors’ Perspective’, held on October 27th, 2017, as part of the 44th Foundation Day celebrations, in which the former directors of IIMB, Professors K.R.S Murthy, M.R Rao, P.G. Apte and Sushil Vachani participated, sharing their perspectives on the building of IIMB.
Subsequently, the IIMB History Project Team followed up with video-recorded interviews of the Directors on the panel, as also Professor J Philip. All the Directors gave generously of their time and spoke about their subjective engagement with the Institute and the defining moments of their tenures, answering, unflinchingly, the challenging questions that were posed to them.
The interviews with the former Directors are being brought out in the form of a compendium, ‘The Evolution of IIMB: Directors’ Perspectives’, and will be unveiled at the Foundation Day Celebrations on October 28th, 2019.
We believe the volume to be a richly rewarding account of the journey of the institute as told by its visionary leaders, from its fledgling days to its present stature as a leading international institution of management studies, consistently topping the rankings.
Going forward, in the years leading up to the Golden Jubilee of the Institute, the IIMB History Project visualizes a focus on theme-based manuscripts such as the history of various academic and executive programs, the arc of governance, the growth of the campus, the alumni perspective and so on.
We look forward to the active participation of the multiple stakeholders and the extended IIMB family, in bringing the IIMB History Project to fruition.
By the IIMB History Project Team: K Kumar, Bringi Dev, Usha K R, Mihir Parekh
