Professor Lakshmi Kumar has been the Dean of IFMR Graduate School of Business since March 2022, having been in the institution since January 2000. Prior to assuming the role of Dean, she has held several administrative positions, including MBA Chair, PhD Chair, EMBA Chair and Alumni Chair. She teaches courses in Macroeconomics, Managerial Economics, International Business, Microfinance and Entrepreneurship, both at the business school as well as in management development programmes for corporates and the government.
She is passionate about understanding the financial behaviour of low-income households, rural livelihoods and analysis of government-provided basic services. Professor Lakshmi Kumar has also participated in various field-based studies in Tamil Nadu, including projects sponsored by Harvard University, DFID UK, NSE India, University of California, Irvine and NABARD, India.
Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics (1984), a Master’s in Econometrics (1987) from the University of Madras, and PhD from IIT Madras in 2008.