Information systems expert T. (Ravi) Ravichandran has been named the Irene and Robert Bozzone ’55 Distinguished Chair in the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. An endowed professorship is among the highest honors bestowed on a Rensselaer faculty member.

 “Dr. Ravichandran is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of business strategy, information technology management, and supply chain management­­­­­­. Scholars in these fields recognize the strength and impact of his research, which positions Rensselaer and its students at the forefront of learning about and preparing for today’s global marketplace,” said Tom Begley, dean of the Lally School at Rensselaer. “We commend him on his appointment to the Irene and Robert Bozzone ’55 Distinguished Chair and look forward to his continued scholarly achievements in this new leadership role.”

The Bozzone Chair advances the management and technology program at the Lally School, and was established by colleagues of former Rensselaer Board of Trustees member Robert P. Bozzone ’55 to pay tribute to his exceptional career and accomplishments in building Allegheny Technologies Inc., into one of America’s outstanding corporations.

“Robert was a pioneer in leading his industrial company through the changes necessary to compete effectively internationally, and he has been a longtime loyal supporter of Rensselaer,” Begley said. “We are immensely pleased that we have the opportunity to honor the contributions of our Lally School faculty member through the efforts of Robert Bozzone.”

Ravichandran joined Rensselaer faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor at the Lally School. He was promoted to a full professor in 2009 and named associate dean for research at the Lally School in 2012.

“I feel honored to be awarded the Irene and Robert Bozzone ’55 Distinguished Chair, and would like to thank President Shirley Ann Jackson, Provost Prabhat Hajela, and Dean Tom Begley for the support I have received at Rensselaer,” said Ravichandran. “I look forward to continuing our efforts to build a pre-eminent business school at Rensselaer that creates and disseminates knowledge to leverage advanced management practices, analytical insights, and technology for the benefit of society.”

Ravichandran’s research focuses on the strategic implications of information technology, supply chain management, business-to-business electronic markets, innovation diffusion, and assimilation and organizational renewal/growth through innovation. This work examines how information technology creates value for firms and transforms organizations, industrial supply chains, and industries. His research has developed deep insights about how the competitive behaviors of firms are shaped by the information systems and about the mechanisms to facilitate the effective design, development, assimilation, and use of information systems within organizations and in value networks.

Ravichandran has published more than 100 research papers in leading academic journals and conference proceedings. He currently serves as a department editor for IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. He has also served as an associate editor of Information Systems Research and an associate editor of MIS Quarterly.

Ravichandran also works closely with several large firms on IT strategy, supply chain management, and innovation management. He has had extensive business experience as a consultant to the Reliance Group, Bombay; as the assistant director of the National Productivity Council, India; and as a production manager in Flakt AB (now Asea Brown Boveri). He has also been a successful entrepreneur, starting an IT services firm.

Ravichandran received his doctoral degree in business administration with a focus on information systems from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; a postgraduate diploma in industrial and systems engineering from the National Productivity Council in India; and a bachelor’s degree in production engineering from the University of Madras.

For more information about the Lally School of Management, visit: http://lallyschool.rpi.edu/.

For more information regarding Ravichandran and his research at Rensselaer, visit: http://lallyschool.rpi.edu/faculty/ravit.html.