Succeeds Dr. SD Gupta who is now the Chairman of IIHMR Board of Governors
6th September 2016 Jaipur: IIHMR University, India’s leading academic institution appoints Mr. Vivek Bhandari as the President. The IIHMR University has been committed to research and professional development in the field of health management and was led by Dr. SD Gupta as its founding President for over two decades. Dr. SD Gupta will now serve as Chairman of the IIHMR Board of Governors.
Dr. S.D. Gupta on the appointment of Prof. Vivek Bhandari as President IIHMR said, “Dr. Vivek Bhandari brings with him years of experience as a respected educator and an institution-builder. Him joining as the President at the IIHMR University will bring new vision and future growth not only in health management research and education, but also other diversified disciplines related to human development.”
From 2007 to 2011, Dr. Bhandari served as Director of the prestigious Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). Appointed at the age of 37, he was the youngest director of a premier business school at that time. Before joining IRMA, he was a tenured faculty member at Hampshire College in Amherst, USA for just under a decade, and worked closely with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the colleges associated with the prestigious Five College Consortium. In 2010, Bhandari spent a semester at the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania, as a visiting scholar.
Dr. Vivek Bhandari, now the President of IIHMR University said, “I feel deeply honored to have been given the opportunity to lead the students and faculty at IIHMR University, an institution that has pioneered the field of health management in the Indian subcontinent, and whose commitment to professionalizing health delivery has remained undiminished for over three decades. It will be a privilege to work closely with the university’s institutional community and its many stakeholders to enhance the health and well-being of people everywhere.”
Dr. Vivek Bhandari completed his B.A. (Honors) and M.A. from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He went on to receive a second M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. He has a distinguished academic record, and lectures at academic institutions in India and abroad. His scholarly writings in the fields of comparative history, rural management, sustainability, and peace studies have appeared in a variety of academic journals, and he writes regularly for publications in the mainstream media. In 2008, Business Today magazine included Prof. Bhandari in its list of “India’s Top 25 Young Executives under the age of 40.”
In 2011 when Dr. Bhandari left IRMA, he has worked as consultant with India’s leading philanthropic trusts such as the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), and Reliance Foundation to provide strategic direction for their initiatives and to enable them to address the country’s myriad developmental challenges. He also works closely with the World Economic Forum, Geneva, and serves on the boards of numerous professional and academic institutions as well as committees convened by the Indian government. Bhandari was a founding faculty member of the Young India Fellowship Program (YIFP), associated with the recently launched Ashoka University, and has also served as Vice Chancellor of Auro University in Surat.
About IIHMR University, Jaipur:
An Exclusive Health Research and Postgraduate University: IIHMR Jaipur has now become the IIHMR University. The IIHMR University is a specialized Research University in management research, postgraduate education and training exclusively in the health sector. The University aims to generate new knowledge and technologies to provide evidence and inputs for developing effective policies and health interventions and strategies. The origin of the IIHMR University has its roots in pioneering and significant contribution of Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), Jaipur in the last three decades to policy and program management research, and capacity development in health and hospital management in India and South-East Asia, which has enabled it to attain the status of a university. The IIHMR University has a mission to improve the standards of health through better management of health care and related programs through management research, education, training and institutional networking in a national and global perspective in the health sector. Over the last 30 years, IIHMR, working as a WHO Collaborating Centre for District Health Systems and designated as an Institute of Excellence by the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, has played a major role in promoting and conducting health policy and program management research. The Institute has been instrumental in a paradigm shift in the management of health care and hospitals in India. A critical mass of professionally trained health and hospital managers has been produced by IIHMR. For its contribution to management education, it has gained several Leadership Awards. In addition, IIHMR has become a major destination for training and capacity development in leadership and strategic management, hospital management, disaster management, quality management, project management, health management information systems, and health economics and finance.
Collaborating Institutions and Universities: World Health Organization; SEAPHEIN; Johns Hopkins University, USA; Chester University, UK; Mahidol University, Thailand; SAARCTBInstitute;TheUNION;Afghan Public Health Institute,Kabul; BPKoirala Institute of Public Health, Nepal. The Institute undertakes training, research and consultancy in health management in close collaboration with international organizations such as UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, ODA, DANIDA, KFW & GTZ, NORAD, CARE and USAID. Working for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (GOI), Planning Commission, Indian Council of Medical Research, state governments and others. International Linkages collaborated with University of North Carolina, USA to offer masters programme to candidates from South-Asia.