Board of Advisors

Dr. Anil Bajpai is an alumnus of three of India’s most premier institutions; B.Sc. in Physics from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi University,1978), BE (Electrical Tech & Electronics,1981) from IISc, Bangalore and PGDBM from IIM-Ahmadabad (1983) 

He has had a corporate career spanning mainly across two important sectors; semiconductors and telecom. Notable assignments he has undertaken include Vodafone Essar Spacetel Ltd. as Chief Operating Officer across several geographies, Reliance Infocom Ltd. as CEO (Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Odisha), Consultant and Advisor for Sahara India and Loop Telecom, DSS Mobilink as Vice President (Operations), Airtel as General Manager (Sales, Marketing and Customer Care). He served the semiconductor sector at Continental Device India Ltd in several capacities. 

Dr. Bajpai has initiated huge telecom network rollouts from scratch as a business head, overseeing both network infrastructure and sales and distribution infrastructure across several states in India. A techno commercial approach to Project management and strong management skills have been deployed to achieve and exceed targeted objectives. His special ability is absorption of technology and motivating teams to deliver results, more so in project rollouts.

His foray into the academic space began nearly 12 yrs. ago with heading the School of Management as its Director of KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. In a short span he took all metrics of performances to the next level i.e. Placements, Quality of Education, Ranking and the Industry interface. However closest to his heart has been student satisfaction.

Presently, Dr. Bajpai has also set up a ground up University in Indore as its Vice Chancellor Prestige University and Chief Operating Officer at Prestige Education Foundation, Indore (MP), After a brief assignment at JKU as Vice Chancellor, Dr Bajpai returned to Bhopal as the Group Director with Prestige institute of management and research. 

Having being involved with Jagadguru Kripalu University since the ideation stage , Dr Bajpai continues to actively advise the university on all matters of strategy and operations.

Prof. Prasant Mohapatra is the Provost of the University of South Florida. Before joining USF, he was the Vice Chancellor for Research at University of California, Davis, where he was instrumental in leading and achieving the aspiration goal of one billion dollars in annual research awards. He was also a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science and served in the roles of Department Chair, Dean, Vice Provost, and Associate Chancellor at UC, Davis.

Dr. Mohapatra has also held Visiting Scientist/Professor positions at Intel Corporation, AT&T, Siemens, Panasonic Technologies, Institute of Infocomm Research, Singapore, National ICT Australia, University of Padova, Italy, Yonsei University and KAIST, South Korea. Dr. Mohapatra was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing and has served on the editorial board of leading journals in the areas of computer science.

Dr. Mohapatra received his doctoral degree from Penn State University in 1993 and received Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award in 2008. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of AAAS, and has been inducted into the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida. His research interests are in wireless networks, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, with over 400 published papers and research funding of approximately 90 million US dollars.

Dr. Debendra K. Das was born in Kendrapara, Odisha and graduated from REC (now NIT) Rourkela with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1972, securing the highest percentage of marks. He received the Best Graduate Gold Medal and was offered an assistantship from Brown University. After earning his master's degree from Brown in 1974, he received a job from Tower Iron Works in Massachusetts, which sponsored him for his Green Card.

Dr. Das returned to the University of Rhode Island to earn his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering in 1983. After a year of service as a Research Engineer at a US Navy Lab near Washington DC, he joined University of Alaska Fairbanks, serving there until 2018, rising to the position of Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering. He currently serves there as a professor emeritus, involved in research with young faculty members and doctoral students.

He has visited India frequently and presented seminars at educational institutions. In addition to his dedication to engineering, science and technology, Dr. Das has devoted about three decades to National Alliance on Mental Illness by providing voluntary services to that organization.

Prof. Ramaiah Muthyala holds a Ph.D. from University of Sagar, India, a Ph.D. from University of East Anglia, UK, and an MBA from University of St. Thomas, MN, USA. He has 22 years of experience in the pharma industry spanning drug discovery, development, and manufacturing processes. He has worked in leading pharma/biotech companies including Eli Lilly, Abbott, Pfizer, and Gilead, with several notable contributions in drug discovery and development.

Prof. Muthyala joined the University of Minnesota in 2014 where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. He is the Director of the Drug Development Laboratory and leads research programs in Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology, with expertise in structure-based drug design and high-throughput screening.

Prof. Muthyala has authored over 130 research publications and has several issued patents. He is a recurring speaker at national and international conferences and serves on several editorial boards. His research has been supported by grants from NIH/NIDA and other federal agencies. He is passionate about translating scientific discoveries into new medicines and therapies.

Dr. Raj Parikh has over 30 years of experience as an academic leader. A graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Dr. Parikh completed graduate work in Chemical Engineering and received a Ph.D. in Accounting and Finance at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a Certified Managerial Accountant (CMA), a Certified Financial Manager (CFM), and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Dr. Parikh is passionate about higher education, international education, and improving access for traditional students and working adults. As an academic entrepreneur, he has successfully established or enhanced branch campuses, turned around institutions in financial distress, increased enrollments and retention, created new academic programs, and established programs in international locations in partnership with local institutions.

He has led strategic planning, budgeting, and academic prioritization efforts, and has led accreditation initiatives at several institutions. These ventures have enhanced his institutions' academic reputation and financial position in sustainable ways.

Mr. Brad Mishra brings over 30 years of international experience across 32 countries. He has held positions as Head of Operations of IBM, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, Country Head of Accenture, Head of Global Program Management Practice of Dell, and Regional Head of Red Bull for APAC/Middle-East/Africa region.

After completing BTech in India, he acquired his MTech from Wollongong University and his MBA from RMIT School of Business and Law. His experience spans across 18 industry verticals with expertise in diverse areas of business operations and strategic management.

Prof. (Dr.) Ankur Saxena is a distinguished academic leader, author, and educationist with over 22 years of experience in higher education. Currently serving as the Pro Vice-Chancellor of S.A.G.E. University, Bhopal, he has made significant contributions to academic planning, governance, and strategic growth.

As a prolific writer, Dr. Saxena has authored multiple books and numerous articles enriching academic discourse in management and higher education. His expertise spans curriculum design, quality assurance, and institutional ranking frameworks. He holds key positions on several academic councils and serves on thesis advisory committees.

His qualifications include a Ph.D. in Management, an MBA in Marketing, and UGC-NET certification. He has presented at over 50 national and international conferences, published extensively, and holds four patents.

Dr. Dharmendra Saraswat is a professor in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department at Purdue University with over three decades of academic career. His primary research focuses on digital agriculture, specifically applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, open-source software, and artificial intelligence to create innovative digital tools for managing environment and agricultural production systems.

Besides Purdue, he has worked as a faculty member at the University of Arkansas, a scientist at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and an assistant professor at Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology. His contributions include developing decision-support tools, innovative work using deep learning for crop disease identification, and launching the Agricultural Informatics course curriculum benefiting over 6,000 students across three universities since 2020.

Mr. Benudhar Dash, IAS (Retd.) has an illustrious career in public services and academics spanning over 40 years. Recently, he was the Secretary of Claims Commission, a statutory body constituted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India for rehabilitation and compensation of land oustees displaced by mining operations in Odisha.

He was the Commissioner and Director of Education, Govt. Of Odisha, and advisor to the Government in Higher Education Department. He also served as Chairman of Government Council of three premier colleges and held key positions including Director, Additional Secretary, and various administrative roles throughout his career.

Mr. Dash holds MSc. in Chemistry from Utkal University and has made significant contributions to policy formulation, education reach, government efficiency, and conflict resolution. He is the President's Medal awardee and currently serves as Advisor to Jagadguru Kripalu University.

Dr. Alok K. Verma is a Professor, Powell Chair, and Head of the Marine Engineering Technology Department at Texas A&M University in Galveston. He received his B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, MS in Engineering Mechanics, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Old Dominion University.

Prof. Verma is a licensed professional engineer and certified manufacturing engineer with expertise in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. He has organized several international conferences and serves as an associate editor for three International Journals. His scholarly publications include over 100 journal articles and more than 50 technical reports, with research funding exceeding $4.0 million.

He is a recipient of multiple awards including the McGraw-Berger Award from ASEE and has been recognized for his contributions to engineering education and community service.

Dr. Arindam Chatterjee is a transformational industry leader with rich experience across Manufacturing, IT/ITES, Education, and Real Estate sectors. He is distinguished as one of the '101 Most Fabulous HR Leaders in India' with recognitions including 'Top HR Icon' from ET Now and WHRD Congress.

He holds fellow status at ISTD and is a life member of NHRDN's Kolkata chapter. With over two decades of experience as both academic and industry leader, Dr. Chatterjee has occupied senior administrative positions and is a doctoral fellow with certifications in HR Audit, Analytics, and Competency Assessment.

His expertise spans Strategic Human Resource Development, Change Management, Organization restructuring, and organizational psychology. He has administered numerous accreditations and initiatives involving MHRD, World Bank, DST, AICTE, and UGC.

Prof. Kalyan Kumar Sahoo has 23 years of experience in academia, working as Vice Chancellor (Arni University, HP), Registrar (Driems), Dean (Kings Business School—Africa), and Faculty members at SOA University, Odisha and institutions across Africa. He teaches strategic management, marketing, and advanced strategic management.

He holds a Doctorate in IR strategy from FMS, RDVV, is a fellow of CGIA, USA, and has completed MBA (Second Topper, FM University, Odisha) and various faculty development programmes. He has supervised doctoral theses of three students and over 80 under/postgraduate students, authored four books and over 50 academic articles published internationally.

Dr. Meghana Trivedi is an academic clinician scientist with Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Pharmacology degrees. She received her training at the University of Houston and University of California, San Diego, and worked as a drug discovery scientist at Johnson & Johnson.

She is a tenured Associate Professor and Director of Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Houston with adjunct faculty appointment at Baylor College of Medicine. Her research focuses on novel drug discovery and biomarkers in oncology with funding from NIH, DOD, and CPRIT, resulting in over 48 publications.

Dr. Trivedi serves as faculty senator and has mentored over 100 trainees including junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. students, and clinical trainees, with expertise in developing new academic and research programs.

Prof. Vijaykumar Krishnan is a researcher, professor, and chair of the department of marketing at Northern Illinois University, USA. His primary research area is sonic branding with nearly two decades of academic career and Google Scholar recognition. He has published in many acclaimed journals and contributed a chapter to the prestigious Oxford Handbook of Music and Advertising.

Before academia, he worked in the Indian corporate world in marketing and advertising for nearly two decades including at Tata Steel, JWT India, and The Times of India. A graduate of IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta with a Doctoral degree from University of Cincinnati, he is also a fourth-generation musician and classical karnatic music teacher with performances at All India Radio and Madras Music Academy.

Dr. Manjit K. Misra is the Director of the Seed Science Center, founding Director of BIGMAP, Endowed Chair of Seed Science, Technology and Systems, and Professor of Agricultural and Bio systems Engineering at Iowa State University. He also served as Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Global Food Security Consortium.

Appointed as chair of the USDA National Genetic Resources Advisory Council for two terms, he has served on over 60 local, national, and international Boards. These include FAO International Conference on Biotechnology, Scientific Advisory Council of American Seed Research Foundation, and various seed industry associations.

Dr. Misra has received numerous awards including "Distinguished Service Award" from American Seed Trade Association, "Order of the Knoll Faculty Award" from Iowa State, and "Global Agricultural Leadership Award" from the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture.

Dr. Satyabrata Das has been in academics since 1977, with honors degree in English with distinction and master's from Ravenshaw College (now a University), Cuttack. He worked at the American Studies Research Centre and Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad as a senior UGC Research Fellow and was at Harvard University on a Fulbright Fellowship.

He has published three acclaimed books: 1. George Orwell: the Man who saw tomorrow. 2. Ernest Hemingway: The turning point 3. Reflections on the great Indian Epic: Mahabharat in Odisha, Bengal, and Assam. The first two were displayed at World Book Fair, New Delhi in 1996.

Dr. Das has traveled widely, addressed scholarly seminars, and published extensively over three decades on American, British, Commonwealth, Comparative, and Translation literature. He has been focused on promoting and guiding Ph.D. students since retirement in 2016.

Prof. M.K. Satapathy has 30 years of experience in different capacities including Head, Extension Education (RIE Bhubaneswar), Head, Faculty of Science (NERIE, Shillong), and Dean (RIE Bhubaneswar). He has experience teaching and research both in India and abroad at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Prof. Satapathy passed B.Sc. (Hons.) and M.Sc. with First rank from Ravenshaw College and Utkal University respectively, and completed Ph.D. from Central Rice Research Institute. He was a Senior Post Doctoral Fellow at International Rice Research Institute, Manila Philippines, a British Council Fellow at WYE College (University of London), and a Fulbright Professor in conservation Biology at University of Minnesota.

Currently serving as member of the Syndicate of Utkal University, he is deeply interested in educational policies, conservation biology, and climate change issues. He is associated with PRERANA for environmental programs across Odisha.

Shri Jagadananda is a Social Activist and Civil Society Leader. In 2005, he was offered a senior visiting fellowship at CIVICUS-World Alliance for Citizen Participation and worked on legitimacy, transparency and accountability within civil society at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.

His publication 'Civil Society Legitimacy and Accountability' is widely available in French, Spanish, Arabic, and English. Other publications include "Organization Behaviour: A framework for NGOs" and an "Organisation Self-Assessment tool for NGOs' (OSANGO)."

He was previously the State Information Commissioner, Odisha, and a member of the State Planning Board. He is President of National Social Watch (NSW), Chair of Credibility Alliance, and currently Chair of Sa-Dhan, a national network of Community Development Micro Finance Institutions.

Dr. Hasmukh Patel is a self-motivated R&D leader with 15+ years of experience in building high-performance teams and leading cross-functional projects. He has a proven track record in commercializing value-added ingredients and food products through novel processing technologies including High Pressure Processing, Micro Sieve Technology, and membrane filtration.

Dr. Patel is an inventor/co-inventor of 9 patents with advanced qualifications (Masters and Ph.D.) in Food Science and Technology. He has provided R&D leadership in world-class food and beverage companies across USA, China, New Zealand, Europe, and India in various capacities.

He served as invited expert on protein and nutrition task force for WHO/FAO and as consultant for Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) on East Africa Government projects. He was a board member on Cornell University Food Science and Industry Partnership Program for 3 years.

Prof. Saroj Nayak is currently a professor and Dean (Faculty and Planning) at IIT Bhubaneswar. He was a full tenured professor at Rensselaer, USA until 2014, and a Princeton Materials Institute Jr. Fellow at Princeton University. His research interests lie at the interface of physics, chemistry and engineering, focusing on nano and nano-biotechnology.

Prof. Nayak was leader of the focus centre program at Rensselaer, part of a DARPA-supported consortium with GATECH, MIT, STANFORD, and others. He secured over 15 crores in funding for establishing centers of excellences at IIT Bhubaneswar and has over 200 publications with an h-index of 50.

He co-founded KARMA (Kalinga Renewable Energy Manufacturers), the first startup at IIT Bhubaneswar, which introduced the first CIGS technology-integrated mobile solar power with MIT collaboration support.

Ankur Rupani is a Life coach, teacher trainer, and curriculum developer with interests in Wellbeing and integrating meditation and spirituality with mainstream education. He has helped many achieve wellness and happiness through guided meditation programs.

He holds a B.Tech from IIT – Varanasi and a Masters in Engineering from UMCP. His career shifted toward education with a second Masters from Naropa, USA focusing on integral, holistic education. His project explored education models of Rudolf Steiner and Sri Aurobindo's integral education.

His diverse roles include teacher at a private school in US, Teacher trainer with Indus International Training, Project director with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Learning Center, and GRE/GMAT coach. He loves traveling, reading spiritual books, and exploring frontiers of science, spirituality and consciousness.

Rebecca Simon Green, Esq., obtained her J.D. from Southwestern School of Law in California before becoming a law professor at her alma mater – where she co-led many of the school’s Academic Success and Bar Passage programs for several years. Professor Simon Green also taught at UCLA Law School and USC Gould School of Law. She currently teaches at UC Irvine Law School.

Professor Simon Green is a Wellness and Performance Champion to the legal industry. She has coached hundreds of law students and lawyers on growing their stress resiliency, enhancing their cognitive performance while under pressure, and finding deeper meaning and purpose in their lives. Professor Simon Green also has a 2-year Certification in Mindfulness from the UC Berkeley Greater Sciences Center, has completed the Executive Mind series from the Drucker School of Management, and is certified in Public Policy from the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

She teaches law school classes on well-being, happiness and performance optimization. Along with her husband and business partner, Professor Jarrett Green, Esq. M.A., she is the co-author of the book, “Happiness and Peak Performance in Law School” (West Academic Publishing, 2023), and is currently working on their next book, “Happiness and Peak Performance in Law” – to be published by the American Bar Association. Professor Simon Green’s greatest passion is being of service in the lives of others. Faculty URL at UC Irvine Law School: www.law.uci.edu/faculty/lecturers/simon-green/

Dr. Nischal Chandra has 30+ years of industry experience in the IT, AI, Healthcare, Finance, and Telecommunications sectors. His expertise has been in delivering multimillion-dollar technology solutions based on AI on a global scale to solve complex problems for millions of users. He has challenged conventional project management methodologies such as Waterfall and Agile, and developed a new one called Team Configuration 1, where AI creates ultra-high-performing teams that deliver significantly more efficiency.

He has worked for several multinational companies, such as Teradyne, IBM, Sun Life, and Oracle. He is currently serving as a Director of Software Engineering at Oracle Health & AI business unit, developing innovative solutions.

While pursuing his career in technology, Nischal has simultaneously been pursuing his passion in the education industry. He began by developing and teaching his first course in Electrical Engineering at the Educational Studies Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Later, he progressed to teaching IT courses for several colleges and founded/managed a state-licensed professional school offering over 300 online courses in business and technology for nearly 10 years.

In his most recent experience in the education domain, Nischal served as the Chairman of the IT Department, Chief AI Officer, and Chief Information Officer at Apollos University. He has created IT certificate programs, a Bachelor of Science in IT degree, and AI/IT concentrations for the Doctor of Business Administration degree. Nischal holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science in Quality Assurance, and a Doctor of Business Administration.