Indian American AI Expert Ravi Bapna to Lead Santa Clara Business School

Bapna joins Leavey from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, where he held the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Business Analytics and Information Systems and served as associate dean for executive education. He also directed the Carlson Analytics Lab and the Analytics for Good Institute.

At Santa Clara, Bapna will serve as the school's chief academic and executive officer, overseeing undergraduate, graduate, and executive education programs, as well as faculty and research institutes. He will also hold the Mario L. Belotti Professor of Business chair and join the Leavey faculty.

Provost James M. Glaser called Bapna 'a dynamic academic leader who brings a rare combination of visionary leadership, deep expertise in emerging technology, and a commitment to human-centered, ethical innovation.' Bapna co-founded the top-ranked Master of Science in Business Analytics & Artificial Intelligence program at Minnesota and established the Analytics for Good Institute, which applies data science to social issues like housing equity.

His industry collaborations include designing analytics and digital transformation academies for Fortune 500 companies and teaching at NYU Stern and the Indian School of Business. Bapna's awards include the INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award and the Haim Mendelson Teaching Innovation Award. His 2024 book, 'Thrive: Maximizing Well-Being in the Age of AI,' won an Axiom Best Business Book Gold Award.

Bapna holds a doctorate from the University of Connecticut, a bachelor's in commerce from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, and a bachelor's in computer engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology. He will be joined by his wife, Sofia Bapna, an award-winning scholar who will also join Leavey's faculty; her research focuses on gender gaps in technology and equity crowdfunding.