The Centre on Wednesday cleared the appointment of Professor Errol D’Souza as director of the country’s premier business management school Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) on contract basis for five years.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) cleared Prof D’Souza’s name and subsequently, the Department of Personnel and Training issued the notification regarding the appointment.

He has been interim director of IIM Ahmedabad since September 2017, after Prof. Ashish Nanda resignation. His appointment was notified a few hours before the the IIM Act came into effect on Wednesday.

Prof. D'Souza is a Professor of Economics and Dean (faculty) at IIMA. He studied Economics and Statistics at the University of Mumbai and obtained his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Before joining IIM-A in 2001, Prof. D’Souza was the IFCI chair professor in the department of economics, University of Mumbai, and was also a visiting scholar at Columbia University, New York, and a visiting senior fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

He has worked on academic committees of the University Grants Commission and the Indian Council of Social Science Research, and has been associated with the Planning Commission and Reserve Bank of India.

“I am confident that Prof. D’Souza will be an excellent match for this position and a strong asset to the IIMA community,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Board and IIMA Society.

(With PTI inputs)