Professor Dishan Kamdar is the Vice Chancellor of the FLAME University – the pioneer of liberal education in India. He took charge of this position on August 8, 2018. Prior to this, he was the Deputy Dean, Academic Programmes and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian School of Business (ISB), the top ranked global business school in India. A leading researcher, senior faculty member, executive coach to CEOs of renowned corporates and family businesses in India, and a favourite professor to all his students- Dishan handles these multifaceted roles with equal ease.

A passionate teacher before anything else, Dishan’s biggest priority are his students and alumni. “Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to see my students and alumni succeed in their careers and in the process make their alma mater/ organisations proud”, he says.  In his current role as the Vice Chancellor, he is leading FLAME 2.0 - the next phase of growth, expansion and internationalization of FLAME University designed to make it a truly world-class institution in all respects.

At ISB, he was responsible for selecting and nurturing talent right from admissions to alumni engagement. In addition to teaching and research, he was directing Admissions and Financial Aid, Academic Services and Administration for the various PG and degree equivalent programmes, Student Engagement and Applied Learning, Career Advancement Services, Alumni Relations and the launch of new programmes.

Executive Coach, Mentor and Teacher

Professor Dishan Kamdar specializes in teaching Negotiation Analysis and Decision Making, to students of the various PG programmes, advanced management programmes and short duration executive education programmes at ISB. He has been awarded the ‘Professor of the Year’ seven times in the last decade by students of the PGP,   PGPMAX , PGPMFAB and the PGP Pro programmes, for his hands-on teaching style and well-crafted course content. His ratings by students have been consistently amongst ISB’s top 1% of professors, many of who hail from top business schools across the world. He is a frequently sought after faculty amongst the mid to senior level industry professionals, who attend his executive education programmes. Recently, Dishan was invited to teach at The Wharton- TMI executive education programmes.

Dishan’s expertise encompasses the space of negotiations and work place behaviour. He is a personal coach to CEOs of top-notch companies and conglomerates on influence and negotiations. Through structured practical and case-based programmes, he equips leaders to manage difficult conversations and dispute situations to emerge as better agents of influence. He also trains senior executives from PSUs and the Government.

Researcher par Excellence

Dishan is cited as one of India’s top researchers and among the leading ones globally. He is credited with achieving this success far earlier than several others in academia. He has published papers in top-tier international journals and has been invited to present his studies at international conferences. His research interests include work related performance and extra-role behaviours which are both ‘promotive’ and ‘prohibitive’, knowledge sharing, group performance, trust, voice in the organisation, whistle blowing, creativity and leadership, work culture and more.

Experience Summary, Achievements and Qualifications:

Dishan Kamdar joined the ISB in 2004 and progressed into leadership roles within a short span – compared to his peer group internationally, Dishan has been amongst the youngest academicians be selected into deanship roles. He was granted an early tenure, in his fourth year, based on his research excellence and subsequently awarded a full professorship, which also makes him one of the youngest full professors in academia internationally. He is the recipient of multiple teaching awards right from his early days

Labeled as “the central pillar for ISB” Dishan surpassed many a milestone in teaching, research and institutional governance. Under his leadership, ISB was successful in admitting the largest ever student body, setting new benchmarks in student placements of its flagship programmes and strengthening its alumni engagement. He was instrumental in launching PGPPro, a weekend MBA equivalent programme geared toward working professionals. In addition, Dishan also played a vital role in integrating programme delivery and faculty recruitments across two campuses in line with ISB’s philosophy of ‘One School two campuses’. Prior to being the Deputy Dean, he served as the Senior Associate Dean (Programmes) for almost 8 years and during that stint, he was instrumental in leading a major curriculum revamp at the School.

Prior to ISB, Dishan taught Organizational Behavior at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He started his career as an entrepreneur in 1998 as the owner of a trading firm. He grew interested in the theory behind motivation, leadership and negotiation skills, and subsequently pursued his Masters in Science degree and specialized in organizational behavior. Over the years, his skills in negotiations and decision making have helped him grow his business to achieve an annual turnover of over US$ 65 million. Dishan holds a PhD from the National University of Singapore, 2004, MSc (Management), National University of Singapore, 2001 and BBA (Hons), National University of Singapore, 1999.