Dipak C Jain was 17 minutes into his first presentation as dean of Kellogg School of Management when the world changed. This was 8.17 am Chicago time, an hour behind New York. The date was September 11, 2001.
Jain, 53, the first Indian to head a top-flight US business school — he is a US citizen now — quickly got down to writing letters to the school’s alumni seeking their help in placing the graduating students. He was criticised for demeaning the dean’s office. But, after Kellogg reported a 91 per cent placement rate — the best among all US B-schools that troubled year — this went on to become standard practice.
Born and brought up in Tezpur, Assam, Jain stayed dean at Kellogg for eight years, until he became dean emeritus in 2009. In an earlier chat with Business Standard, Jain chose attitude as the most important quality in a professional. “Beyond a point, the technical qualifications do not matter; attitude does. If you are trying to build a ship, do not tell your workers to go to the forest, chop wood and build a ship. Instead, instil in them a desire for the sea. They will do the rest.”
Given this spirit, it’s not surprising then that Jain will not be content with the emeritus consolation. He is leaving Chicago to become the next dean of INSEAD, the leading international business school with campuses in Singapore, France and Abu Dhabi, succeeding J Frank Brown, who will step down next year.
