Kulbhushan Balooni

Biography

Kulbhushan has been associated with the IIMs for more than 25 years. He is a Professor in the Economics Area at the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode. He was among the first faculty members to join the IIM Kozhikode in its first academic year (1997–1998). He served as IIM Kozhikode's Director (i/c) and nurtured IIM Amritsar as Mentor Director between September 2014 and June 2018. He was Director of IIM Kashipur from June 2019 to June 2024.

Kulbhushan undertook post-doctoral research at the University of Tokyo and doctoral research at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). He has been a visiting scholar at Edmonton University, National University of Singapore, University of Copenhagen, University of Tokyo, Uppsala University, and Wageningen University. He is a LEAD (Leadership for Environment & Development) Fellow (Cohort 10).

He undertakes interdisciplinary research on the environment, resources, development policy and sustainability, and social entrepreneurship. His research has been featured in journals such as Conservation Letters, Conservation and Society, Ecology & Society, Economic & Political Weekly, International Journal of the Commons, Geoforum, International Journal of Public Administration, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Landscape & Urban Planning, Unasylva, and World Development.

Kulbhushan attended intensive training programs at the University for Peace, San José, Costa Rica; IIM Ahmedabad; and Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, before 2001 to hone his academic skills. He has also undergone training in the Leadership for the 'Environment & Development' Program along with peers from academics, journalism, NGOs, and policy-making domains from more than fifteen emerging and developed countries organized by LEAD International in Mexico, the United Kingdom, Thailand, and India, and was conferred the status of LEAD Fellow in 2004.