Ravi Bapna Named Dean Of Santa Clara University’s Business School

PICTURE CREDIT- Jonathan Conklin Photography

India-West News Desk

SANTA CLARA, CA – Ravi Bapna, an expert in artificial intelligence, big data analytics and digital transformation, has been named the next dean of Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. He will assume the role on September 1.

The appointment was announced by Santa Clara University Provost and Executive Vice President James M. Glaser.

Bapna joins Santa Clara from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, where he served as the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Business Analytics and Information Systems, associate dean for executive education and academic director of the Carlson Analytics Lab and Analytics for Good Institute.

As dean, Bapna will serve as the school’s chief academic and executive officer, overseeing its undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs, faculty and research institutes. He will also serve as the Mario L. Belotti Professor of Business and join the Leavey faculty.

“Business education is at an inflection point, and there is no better place to shape its future than right here in Silicon Valley, at one of the world’s leading Jesuit universities,” Bapna said.

Bapna holds a doctoral degree in business administration in operations and information management 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. Before joining the Carlson School, he held tenured faculty and leadership positions at the Indian School of Business and the University of Connecticut.

Bapna’s wife, Sofia Bapna, an award-winning scholar, will also join the Leavey School of Business faculty. Her research examines gender gaps in technology, digital platforms and equity crowdfunding, with recent work exploring AI applications in education.