Professor Alok Kumar Rai will take over as full-time director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta from tomorrow, Wednesday, July 30.

He will formally succeed Prof Saibal Chattopadhyay, who has held the position since January 16, according to a statement.

Rai, who previously served as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Lucknow, "brings with him a deep commitment to academic excellence, research, and institutional governance," according to the statement from the IIM.

Professor Rai formerly worked as a management professor at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where he served on several high-level committees and academic panels.

His appointment comes amid reports that a list of candidates for the director’s post sent by IIM Calcutta was rejected by the Union Ministry of Education, which then asked the institute to restart the selection process, The Telegraph reports.

The institution has changed directors three times in three years and is looking for a fourth.

Prof Anju Seth, the institute's first woman director, resigned in March 2021, three years into her five-year term and her successor, Prof Uttam Kumar Sarkar, lasted slightly more than two years, leaving in August 2023.

Most recently, Prof Sahadeb Sarkar, who took over as director-in-charge only in November 2023 and was supposed to serve until the appointment of a regular director, also left in January 2024.

As a temporary measure, IIM Calcutta has named Prof Saibal Chattopadhyay as in-charge director, although the process of hiring a new full-time director was ongoing.