Prof. Gajanan Raghunath Kulkarni was a faculty member in the Business Policy Area of IIM Ahmedabad from 1965, up to his retirement in 1987 with a brief break away from the institute in 1973-75. As a member of the founding faculty members of IIMA, he played an instrumental role in shaping several activities of the institute in its formative years.

He was born on July 29, 1927 and his early education included a B. Com and M. Com degree from Bombay University in 1946 and 1947 respectively and later the LL. B degree from Bombay University in 1956 while in service. He secured several prizes-the Sir James Begbie Scholarship in Advanced Banking, Soman Prize in Economics and Rao Prize in Trade & Statistics.

After a brief stint as a Research Officer with the Indian Chamber of Commerce (1948-50), he was involved with several government commercial departments-as Income Tax Officer (1950-56), Assistant to the Commissioner (1956-58), Under Secretary to Govt. Ministry of Finance (1958-61), Deputy Secretary to Govt. Ministry of Finance (1962-63) and Assistant Commissioner (Appeals), Income Tax Department (1963-65). Much of this work required systematic analysis of various administrative tasks including carrying out surveys. In 1961, he was sent to the USA for a training programme sponsored by the International Cooperation Administration.

On Aug 16, 1965, he joined IIMA's faculty in the Business Policy Area and was part of the Harvard Business School's International Teaching Programme during the academic year 1965-66. Over the next 22 years, barring a brief break from the Institute in 1973-75, he contributed widely to the institute's activities. He played a pioneering effort to establish the student placement process at IIMA and contributed extensively to the 3-Tier Programme in executive education. He headed the Alumni Activities Committee in the 1970s, wrote over 20 cases and taught several courses to the PGP and FPM students. He was appointed as the Chairperson of the Business Policy Area in 1979, was a member of IIMA's Board of Governors, a member of a Taskforce to advise on the Faculty Development Centre and Dean (Planning). He was the Bank of Baroda Chair Professor of International Banking and Finance from 1981 to 1984.

He was associated with a United Nations assignment in Afghanistan and was also briefly the Dean of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. After this retirement on July 31, 1987, he moved to Bangalore and played a role for a while in running the Xavier Institute of Management Education.

He passed away in Bengaluru on Oct 13, 2021, at the age of 94.

More information can be found in this IIMA Archives monthly snippet series.

Date of Birth: July 29, 1927

Date of Death: October 13, 2021