Dr M J Xavier is the Founding Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi, and currently holds the position of Executive Director at the Vellore Institute of Technology. He has designed the curriculum for IIM Ranchi based on the motto of “Thought leadership through Erudite Fusion”.

Earlier, Dr Xavier has served as a Research Executive in Mode Research Pvt Ltd, Calcutta, and as a Manager in charge of Management Development & Services with SPIC Ltd, Chennai.

With more than 25 years of professional experience in teaching, research, academic administration and industry, Dr Xavier specialises in Marketing Research and Strategic Marketing. His areas of interest include Marketing Research, Data Mining, e-Governance and Spirituality.

Dr Xavier has held faculty positions at XLRI Jamshedpur, IIM Bangalore, IFMR Chennai, and the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai. He has served as a visiting faculty to a number of business schools in India and abroad, including the University of Buckingham (UK), the Texas Christian University (USA), the California Polytechnic State University (USA), and the American University of Armenia (Armenia).

Dr Xavier has conducted a number of training programs for executives, and has also been a consultant to several companies in India and abroad. He has authored three books, and has published over a hundred articles in journals & magazines in India and abroad. His book, “Marketing in the New Millennium”, won the DMA-Escorts Award for the Best Management Book of the Year, 1999.

Dr Xavier is a recipient of the Chanakya Award for Innovative Leadership, 2012, and the Amity Academic Excellence Award, 2012.