Soumitra Dutta

Professor
Soumitra Dutta
EducationIndian Institute of Technology Delhi (B.Tech.) University of California, Berkeley (M.S., Ph.D.)
OccupationsUniversity Dean, academic, author and entrepreneur
SpouseLourdes Casanova

Soumitra Dutta is an Indian academic, author and entrepreneur. He was the dean of Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford from June 2022 to September 2025 when he resigned.[1][2] His resignation followed allegations of sexual harassment towards a junior academic.[3] He was previously a professor of management, as well as the former founding dean, at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University in New York. He was Dean of SC Johnson College of Business from 2012 to 2018. Before his appointment to Cornell, he was the Roland Berger professor of business and technology at INSEAD.[4]

Early life and education

Dutta attended the Indian Institutes of Technology in New Delhi, graduating with a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science in 1985. In 2017, he received a Distinguished Alumnus award from IIT. He continued his education at Berkeley University of California, earning an M.S in computer science in 1987, an M.S in Business Administration in 1989, and a Ph.D in computer science in 1990.[5]

Career

Dutta joined INSEAD's faculty as an Assistant Professor of Information Systems, Technology Management Area in 1989, later serving as Dean of Technology and E-learning, Dean of Executive Education, and Dean of External Relations.[4]

In 2008, he founded Fisheye Analytics, which provided analytics for social media. In 2013, it was acquired by the WPP group.[6]

In 2012, he joined Cornell University as Dean of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management and later became the founding dean of its business school - SC Johnson College of Business - in 2016. Dutta served as dean until January 2018 when he resigned abruptly with neither Dutta or the university providing an explanation.[7]

In 2014, he was part of President Obama's White House roundtable with business school deans on effective workforce policies.[8] Dutta has been a member of the board of Sodexo between 2014 and 2020.[9] He is also a board member of Dassault Systèmes, which he has been on since 2017.[10]

In 2018, he was appointed as a Member of the Shareholder Council, at ZS Consulting.[10] He has been the Chair of the Board of the Global Business School Network since 2018.[11] Dutta is the president and Co-Founder, Portulans Institute which was set up in 2019, as an independent non-profit research institute based in Washington DC.[12]

On 1 June 2022, Dutta became the new Dean of Saïd Business School at Oxford University, replacing interim dean Sue Dobson.[2] Dutta resigned in September 2025.[13][14], when the university concluded a five-month investigation that substantiated three complaints of sexual harassment made by a female academic.[15][16] The inquiry found that on one occasion he "made a romantic advance" towards a female colleague after she had sought protection from him from an incident of sexual assault.[3] It is alleged he said "I feel very attracted to you. Can something happen between us?" which Dutta denies. He told The Times through his lawyer "I deeply regret causing any distress or offence by anything I said".[17]

Personal life

Dutta is married to fellow academic Lourdes Casanova.[18]

Publications

Dutta is the founder and co-editor of fourteen editions of the Global Innovation Index which is published with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Dutta is a founding co-editor of the annual Global Information Technology Report published by the World Economic Forum,[19] and the founder of the annual Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization.[20]

His other books include:

  • Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work and World, with Matthew Fraser. Wiley 2008.
  • Innovating at the Top: How Global CEOs Drive Innovation for Growth and Profit, with Roland Berger, Geoffrey Samuels and Tobias Raffel. Palgrave MacMillan 2009.
  • Finger, Lutz; Dutta, Soumitra (2014). Ask, measure, learn : using social media analytics to understand and influence customer behavior. Sebastopol. ISBN 978-1-4493-3684-4. OCLC 869548397.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Entrepreneurship and the Finance of Innovation in Emerging Markets, with Lourdes Casanova and Peter Cornelius. Elsevier 2018.
  • Dutta, Soumitra (2021). The world after Covid-19. Dan LeClair, Veneta Andonova, Global Business School Network. Washington, DC. ISBN 979-8-7436-5644-8. OCLC 1258545837.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

  1. ^ "Oxford's Business School Names Interim Leader After Dean Resigns". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b "University of Oxford appoints new Dean for Saïd Business School | Saïd Business School". www.sbs.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Oxford Don Quit After Harassment Inquiry". TheTimes.com. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Cornell. "Faculty & Research". Cornell Johnson. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Soumitra Dutta". www.asiaglobalinstitute.hku.hk. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  7. ^ Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (1 February 2018). "Cornell Silent for Second Day as Mystery of Business Dean's Exit Grows". Cornell Silent for Second Day as Mystery of Business Dean's Exit Grows - The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Business School Deans Meet to Discuss Best Practices for a 21st Century Workplace". whitehouse.gov. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. ^ "1. Integrated report - Page 215 | Sodexo - Fiscal 2020 Universal Registration Document". sodexo.publispeak.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Board of Directors - Dassault Systèmes". investor.3ds.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Soumitra Dutta". GBSN. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Soumitra Dutta". Portulans Institute. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  13. ^ Brown, Jeanette (31 January 2018). "Inaugural Dean of Cornell's Johnson College of Business Steps Down Abruptly, No Reason Given". Clear Admit. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  14. ^ "Oxford Appoints Mette Morsing As Interim Dean After Dutta Resigns". BW Education. 12 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Third senior Oxford academic quits over misconduct claims". TheTimes.com. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  16. ^ "Harassment Findings Triggered The Fall Of Oxford Saïd's Dean". poetsandquants.com. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  17. ^ O’Neill, Sean (22 February 2026). "Oxford University drops bid for anonymity in harassment tribunal". The Times. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  18. ^ "Soumitra Dutta to become dean of Oxford business school". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Press Releases". Global Information Technology Report 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  20. ^ Pulakkat, Hari. "A look at India's 15-place jump in Global Innovation Index". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
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