The WDI Board of Directors has named Jagadeesh Sivadasan, professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, to succeed Wendy Taylor, who recently announced her departure, as interim President. The Board will initiate a search for a permanent WDI president shortly.
Sivadasan is the Buzz and Judy Newton Professor of Business Administration in the Business Economics and Public Policy group of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, and a faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. His research is focused on understanding what drives entry, growth and productivity as well as worker performance and mobility, across businesses. He teaches the core applied microeconomics course in the full-time, weekend and executive MBA programs, and PhD program at Michigan Ross. Sivadasan has also served as director of the full-time MBA program and as chair of the Business Economics and Public Policy group.
“My research has spent years asking what allows firms and workers in developing economies to grow, adapt and compete,” Sivadasan said. “WDI has spent more than three decades turning that same question into action. I’m honored to help lead the Institute through this transition, and to keep that work moving forward with the entrepreneurs and businesses we serve in low- and middle-income countries.”
“Jagadeesh brings a rare combination to this role: deep scholarly expertise in what actually drives firm growth and entrepreneurship in emerging markets, and years of proven leadership within our own community at Ross,” said WDI Board Chair and Michigan Ross Dean Sharon Matusik. Matusik also thanked Taylor for her service, energy and deep commitment to WDI’s mission as an educational and research organization.
An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, Sivadasan completed a PGDM after a BTech at IIT Madras. He then worked as a Senior Consultant at Arthur Andersen before earning his PhD from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He was the recipient of the 2018 Victor L. Bernard Teaching Leadership Award and the 2019 Ross School of Business Neary Teaching Excellence Award, from the full-time MBA class of 2019.
