MICA Ahmedabad appoints alumnus as Associate Dean; endeavours to lead Industry, alumni partnership

MICA Ahmedabad has announced the appointment of its alumnus Siddharth Deshmukh as the Associate Dean Industry & Alumni Partnerships, Associate Professor and Area Leader Digital Platform & Strategies. Siddharth graduated as a first MICAn in 1996, the first batch of MICAs two-year flagship PGDM and returns to his Alma Mater in a new capacity. He will join the institute from June 1, 2016.
Siddharths mandate is to connect and build the MICA brand with industry, alumni, students and other stakeholder partnerships. He will be the in-charge of Marketing, Alumni Relations, Placements and MDP functions at MICA. He will also lead MICAs foray into the digitally enabled world through the Digital Platform and Strategies Area.

Siddharth has been teaching at MICA for last three years in his capacity of an adjunct faculty. He co-created MICAs Digital Communication Management (DCM) Specialisation along with other MICA faculty. He has mentored over 50 students over the past three years to convert their ideas into prototypes and potential ventures (this is a six month project for MICAs second year PGDM students in lieu of dissertation). He also teaches foundation courses in Digital Transformational Frameworks and User Experience Design. Besides these, Siddharth has taught various other digital and non-digital courses across institutes.

Siddharths first two jobs were with Sony Entertainment Television and AT&T, before it became Idea Cellular. He has, since that time, been an entrepreneur and digital venture/product development evangelist for over a decade with his earlier UK based company, Cohezia. He remains on Cohezias Advisory Board and the various ventures it develops and grows.

Siddharth has written two books The Map that Matters- a non-fiction and The Gift of the Gab- management fiction. His interests lie in business innovation and disruptive thinking for positive results. Commenting on his new role at MICA, Siddharth said, From being a student to being a professor hello from the other side! Super excited about joining the one and only School of Ideas! Wish to see MICA lead Indias foray into new age education and an innovation driven economy.

Commenting on Siddharths appointment, Dr. Preeti Shroff, Dean - MICA, said, MICAs realigned vision and strategy is to create future leaders and professionals who are not just grounded in business management, strategic marketing, and communication, but also equipped to engage with the digitally enabled world. This would require a creative and innovative mindset towards solving complex problems using technology platforms and strategies. We are bringing thought and practice leaders in this area who will be catalysts in achieving the same. Siddharth is the first amongst many who will join the team of global educators at MICA. He has a proven track record of leading businesses and start-up enterprises both globally and locally. His experience and expertise in the innovative digital platforms and strategies is completely aligned with our agenda.

Commenting on Siddharths appointment, Madhukar Kamath, President - MICA said, Two of the core strengths of MICA are its relationship with the Industry and its Alumni. Both are integral to the growth and development of MICA. As an Associate Dean, Siddharth will be building on the excellent goodwill that MICA enjoys with the Industry, be it for consultancy assignments, management development programs, internships and more importantly, placements.

Established in 1991 MICA, Ahmedabad is the first residential institute in the country dedicated to creating Leadership in Strategic Marketing and Communication. The B school aims to assure delivery of Strategic Marketing and Communication solutions to the industry, government and community. The institute provides specialists in the field of communications management. Its spirit lies in its grasping of contemporariness, addressing the needs of an ever-changing environment. MICA is a premier school that focuses on strategic marketing and communication.