GMAC appoints Indian-American chief

Sangeet Chowfla

Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has selected Sangeet Chowfla as their new president and CEO. Chowfla, who succeeds David A. Wilson, will join GMAC as President in September and assume the CEO role on January 1, 2014, informed a release.  

Chowfla is the latest to join the club of Indian-Americans heading management education departments in US. The list includes Soumitra Dutta (Cornell University), Nitin Nohria (Harvard B-School), Dipak Jain (Kellogg, INSEAD), Sunil Kumar (University of Chicago's Booth School of Business).

An Indian by birth, Chowfla is a US citizen, currently living in New Delhi, and will relocate to Northern Virginia as part of assuming the new role. Chowfla pursued BA (Eco) from St. Stephen's at Delhi University (DU) and MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, DU.

Beginning his career in New Delhi with IBM/IDM,Chowfla is a globally recognised executive with 32 years of experience in P&L Management, General Management, Product Management, International Business Development and Venture Capital investment, gained in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, India and the Middle East. His particular area of expertise is the management of high-growth enterprises, the creation of high performance teams and the internationalization of business, stated the release.

Speaking about Chowfla, James Bradford, outgoing chairman of the GMAC board and dean, and Ralph Owen, professor of management at Owen School of Management, Vanderbilt University, said, “His global business experience, his understanding of technology and its impact on consumers, and his understanding of the way companies must anticipate, plan for and actively engage in the changing global marketplace, are all skills GMAC will need moving forward.”

Patrick J. Shooltz, chair of the GMAC CEO search committee and senior VP and regional director at New Boston Fund, Inc., said, "GMAC was very fortunate to have attracted a deep and diverse pool of extremely talented applicants. We received interest from more than 100 highly qualified potential candidates, and the search committee interviewed many of those in making this selection.”