Prior to being appointed as Chairperson, Mr. Pankaj R. Patel has been a member of the IIMA Board of Governors for eight years. Mr. Patel is the Chairman of Zydus Lifesciences Ltd., a discovery-driven, global Lifesciences company with operations in 55 countries worldwide. Mr. Pankaj Patel combines both research and techno-commercial expertise and has published over 100 research papers in peer reviewed journals and is a co-inventor in more than 64 patents.

Mr. Patel has been appointed as the Part Time Non-official Director in Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He is on the Governing Board of IIM Udaipur (as Chairman), Invest India, and India Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. He is also a Member of the CEO Advisory Committee of International Generics and Biosimilars Association (IGBA). Mr. Patel is a Past President of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). He also officiates on the board of several Not-for-Profit & charitable institutions. Mr. Patel is the Executive Chairman, Vice President and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, a Regional Cancer Centre and one of the largest cancer centres of India, reaching out to the needy and underprivileged cancer patients. He also officiates as the Chairman of the Deaf and Mute School, Ahmedabad. He is also a Director and Chairman on the Board of Zydus Foundation which set up Zydus Hospital and Medical College, Dahod.

In recognition of his contributions to the healthcare industry in India, Mr. Patel is a recipient of several awards including the Acharya PC Ray Memorial Gold Medal Award and the Eminent Pharmacist Award, the India Innovator Award at the India Business Leaders Awards instituted by CNBC. For his entrepreneurial vision, Mr. Patel was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Life Sciences category. Through his various associations with educational institutions and not-for-profit organisations that serve at the grassroots, Mr. Patel champions and supports the causes related to education, health, and innovation.