The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad or IIMA) is a public business school located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was the second Indian Institute of Management (IIM) to be established, after IIM Calcutta. Established in 1961, the Institute offers graduate graduate programs in Agri-Business management and management, a scholarship program and a number of executive training programs. The first director of the Institute was the Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai. The director starting in 2016 is Ashish Nanda.
History
IIM Ahmedabad was founded on December 11, 1961 with the active support of the Government of India, the Government of Gujarat, the Harvard Business School and prominent members of Indian industry. The physicist Vikram Sarabhai and the entrepreneur Kasturbhai Lalbhai, both native of Ahmedabad, played fundamental roles in the creation of the institute. The Kasturbhai Institute Lalbhai Management Development Center and a Lalbhai Kasturbhai Chair in entrepreneurship are named in his honor. Management educator Ravi J. Matthai and several other industrialists from Ahmedabad also played an important role in its creation.
The 1960s were a time when Indian industry did not fully understand or appreciate a course of management. Initially, the institute faced difficulties in getting high-quality students and persuading companies to hire these candidates. However, over time, as the leadership of major trading houses changed, this mentality also changed.