S Ramesh Kumar

Professor S. Ramesh Kumar, who retired from IIM Bangalore in June 2022, had a distinguished career spanning over 35 years combining industrial and academic experience. He joined IIMB as Assistant Professor of Marketing in 1995 and was promoted to Professor in 2001. With a Ph.D., MBA, and BE in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the University of Madras, Kumar specialized in applying marketing and consumer behavior concepts to the Indian context. His research focused on Branding-Consumer Behavior Interface, Cultural Dimensions in Marketing, and Consumer Behavior-Digital Marketing Interface. Kumar authored seven reference books on Marketing and Consumer Behavior, including an adaptation of a popular Consumer Behavior textbook for the Indian context. His academic contributions include 25 co-authored cases in Ivey and IIMB cases distributed by Harvard Business School, along with numerous publications in prestigious journals. Kumar's teaching excellence was recognized with the ICFAI Best Teacher Award from AIMS, and he held the IIMB Chair of Excellence from 2016 to 2019. At IIMB, he served in various leadership roles including Chairperson of PGPEM, Marketing area, and the Welfare Committee, contributing significantly to the institute's development as a world-class institution.