Vinod K. Jain

Vinod Jain is the founder and former director of the Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER) and professor in the Logistics, Business & Public Policy Department, as well as Associate Director of Research, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. In addition, he is an Affiliate Professor in the Latin American Studies Center, University of Maryland. He is also the President & CEO of the India-US World Affairs Institute, Inc. A Fulbright Scholar and true cosmopolitan, Vinod has lived and worked in India, the United States, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, and the Middle East.

Vinod teaches courses in “strategy”, “global strategy”, and “emerging markets” on the Smith School’s MBA program and “international business” in the undergraduate program. He has taught strategy on Smith School’s Executive MBA program in China and Switzerland, as well as on the EMBA program of the University of Lodz, Poland.

Vinod recently co-authored a major study on “How America Benefits from Business with India” for the India-US World Affairs Institute; the study was sponsored by the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The 2010 report on how America benefits from business with India will be published in April 2010. He is currently working on a research project to measure regional innovation in the United States, which was funded partially by the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

He has designed and chaired thought-leadership symposia at the annual conferences of the Academy of Management and at his universities on themes such as “Business Models in the New Economy”, “Democratization of Education”, and “ethics and internationalization.” During the last eleven years, he has won and managed five federal grants with a budget of over $2 million, each with the overarching objective of strengthening the international competitiveness of United States business. And, he has been honored by the Governors of both Ohio (2001) and Maryland (2004) for his services to their states.

Prior to returning to academia in 1990, Vinod worked in industry for some fifteen years and held a variety of middle and senior executive positions on three continents, including Vice President (Macmillan Publishers), Manager Coordination (Molins plc), and Marketing Research Executive (Coca-Cola). He continues his deep involvement with business and industry through research, speaking engagements, seminars, and conferences. He has conducted over one hundred executive seminars in India, Bahrain, China, Europe, and the United States, and has been active on a number of boards and professional and trade associations.

Vinod has a Ph.D. in Strategy and International Management from the University of Maryland at College Park and Master’s degrees in Management (UCLA) and Statistics (Indian Statistical Institute). He is a member of Academy of International Business, Academy of Management, Asia Society, and Mensa. In January 2008, he was appointed to serve on the Maryland-Washington D.C. District Export Council by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce. He is President Emeritus of the Toledo Area International Trade Association, and served on the board of governors of Ohio’s Information Technology Alliance during 2000-2002.