CEO in the classroom: Colleges snap up c-suite execs in rankings race

Universities are tapping search corporations to recruit c-suite degree executives and expat lecturers for the roles of dean, vice-chancellor, enterprise administration head and provost, a number of trade officers stated, with the hiring spree already yielding key appointments.

“Colleges are recruiting expensive and top talent for these posts so that they are able to increase their funding, get quality research papers done, improve their rankings and up their collaboration with international academic partners and industry as well,” stated Suchindra Kumar, accomplice and chief for schooling at consulting agency PwC India.

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According to Kumar, a vice-chancellor is immediately a “brand unto himself/herself and responsible for building the university culture and be able to attract faculty from other good universities”.

Some of the prime posts in universities now embrace chief working officer, chief know-how officer, chief folks and tradition officer, and outreach and advertising head, designations extra widespread in corporates.

In January, the University of Southampton appointed Vishal Talwar, former director of IMT Ghaziabad, as COO of its upcoming Delhi campus. “These are thrilling instances in the Indian greater schooling area, and I sit up for working with colleagues in the UK and India to determine the University of Southampton’s globally benchmarked campus in Gurugram, Delhi NCR,” Talwar wrote on LinkedIn.

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A chief administrative officer employed by the Indian School of Business (ISB) a couple of yr and a half in the past from Jindal University has introduced invaluable experience, stated Madan Pillutla, dean and professor of organizational behaviour.

“At ISB, we have strengthened our professional staff in recent years. While ISB has always been fortunate to have strong academic leadership, we have enhanced this by bringing in professionals with specialized skills to complement our team,” Pillutla stated.

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Universities are eager to faucet the experience of proficient executives to assist increase their rankings, that are key to attracting extra college students and exterior funding. The ISB has stated that it grabbed the prime spot amongst administration faculties in India in the Financial Times (FT) Global MBA Ranking 2025, and likewise improved its international rank to 27 from 31 final yr.

“While academics remain the core, allied activities are now essential for ensuring quality education,” stated Jaskiran Arora, dean, schooling high quality at BML Munjal University in Haryana.

Arora acknowledged that devoted groups typically work on bettering the faculty’s rankings, integrating know-how, partaking corporates, strengthening model, and thereby safe higher placements and profession alternatives for college kids. “While amounts may vary, salaries typically range between ₹2-3 crore, including the variable component,” Arora stated.

The demand is up not only for faculties providing common administration programmes, however even for those who train regulation, nursing and different specialised programs.

“We hired seven to eight senior executives like vice-chancellors, provosts and head of design including expats in 2024. The number was 3-4 in 2023, but in 2025, we will cross our earlier numbers,” stated Jyoti Bowen Nath, managing accomplice for search agency Claricent Partners.

According to information by Claricent Partners, prime college officers employed just lately embrace Eloise Phillips, provost, University of Southampton, Delhi Campus from University of Birmingham’s Dubai Campus; Uma Ananda Dagnino Gonzales, vice-chancellor of Woxsen University, from Universidad Latinoamericana de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (ULACIT), San Jose, Costa Rica; Simon Mak, founding vice-chancellor, Universal AI University from SMU Cox School of enterprise, Dallas, Texas; Justin Paul, dean and provost (administration schooling, School of Business Management, NMINS, from University of Puerto Rico; and Nimay Kalyani, director of the University of Wollongong’s India Campus, from University of Wollongong, Australia.

Queries despatched to the universities late Tuesday night didn’t elicit a response at the time of publishing. University of Wollongong responded to Mint’s queries and confirmed the appointment of Kalyani.

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“In the past decade, more than 300 new universities have come up in India,” stated Narayanan Ramaswamy, accomplice and chief for schooling and ability growth observe at consulting agency KPMG. “This is perhaps the best time for tenured academics with a leadership bent, to explore opportunities these universities for leadership positions.”

“There has been a steady increase in fee structure in many of these colleges and universities who have been providing good education and results over the last decade, and they can now afford to recruit experienced professors who have spent a few decades in this field, at salaries similar to CXOs in corporates,” Ramaswamy added.

Galgotias University in Greater Noida is actively looking for high-calibre candidates for CXO roles, stated Dhruv Galgotia, CEO. He famous a rising demand for such expertise, with salaries reaching crores of rupees, and rising over “30% in the previous three years, a pattern that continues upward.”