Toronto – A new director has been appointed as director of the India Innovation Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The Institute is a hub for researchers across the university and around the world that aims to bring together faculty and students who are interested in how India is using innovation to transform itself across a variety of spheres, including innovation in technology, manufacturing, services, processes and government. Partha Mohanram, a professor of accounting and the CPA Ontario Professor of Financial Accounting at the Rotman School, is the new director of the Institute, a role he assumed earlier this year.
“I see Innovation as a two-way street,” says Professor Mohanram. “There is a lot that India can learn from the west and developing economies as it tries to modernize itself, lift millions out of poverty and manage growth while dealing with the problems of climate change. However, there is also a lot that the rest of world can learn from India. For instance, the ongoing success of the AADHAAR universal identification program shows how one can use technology to ensure that social services and government programs reach those they are intended for. Similarly, breakthroughs like the Nano car or the Mitti Cool refrigerator demonstrates how one can innovate frugally.”
“There is a lot that India can learn from the west. However, there is also a lot that the rest of world can learn from India.”
-Partha Mohanram
The institute plans to be a clearinghouse for ideas broadly related to Innovation and India.
Professor Mohanram obtained his PhD in Business Economics from Harvard. Prior to that, he obtained his PGDM (MBA) from IIM-Ahmedabad, and a B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT-Madras.
He has published extensively in the top accounting and management journals, with publications in The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research and Management Science. He is considered to be one of the leading experts in the area of valuation, with many papers on fundamental analysis and the measurement of implied cost of capital. His papers are highly cited and featured in the business press.
The Institute held events earlier this month with Hon. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister of India and Professor Arun Sundararajan of New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Further information on the Institute is online at www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/ResearchCentres/IndiaInnovation.
The Rotman School of Management is located in the heart of Canada’s commercial and cultural capital and is part of the University of Toronto, one of the world’s top 20 research universities. The Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables our graduates to tackle today’s global business and societal challenges. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca.
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