Vice Chancellor
Prof. Alok Kr. Rai is a professor of Management at Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and currently Vice Chancellor of University of Lucknow where he is spearheading University’s policies and programs to establish extraordinary standards of education, enrich the experience of learning and reinvigorate the connect between learners and the society. A champion of Customer Relationship Management, Prof. Rai has centered his focus upon building a culture of student centricity across various departments, institutes and affiliated colleges of the University, a force liable for transforming the face of higher education all over the globe. Aligned with University’s ambition of serving as the harbinger of economic, social and spiritual progress of the society, Prof. Rai is leading the institution towards creating an impact bigger and better than ever before.
His key priority is to enhance the educational work at the University and streamline it with the expectations of modern learners. With the introduction of choice-based credit system and new Ph. D. ordinance with several innovative augmentation, university has progressed towards an effective and flexible platform of education where students are empowered to cocreate their experience of learning and gain an edge in an increasingly competitive workforce. He is committed to creating the opportunities of international exposure for the students and has been encouraging the organization of interactive sessions with foreign delegations, virtual classrooms, visiting faculty from international partner institutions and student exchange agreements. To expand its reach to diverse strata of learners, the university, under the direction of Prof. Rai has initiated several innovations in academics and students experiences such as integrated Ph.D. program, ‘Student’s OPD’ (Our Pupils’ Day), course of “GarbhSanskar”, ‘Swasti Scheme’ for students’ scholarship, ‘departmental Youtube channel monetization scheme’ etc.
Prof. Rai recognizes the enormity of university’s social obligations and is persistently working towards creating a culture of conscientiousness in the university. His initiatives for “Carbon Footprint Reduction Assessment” has been widely lauded. Being an ardent scholar of management, Prof. Rai is resolute to create value for all the stakeholders of the university in an academic system that offers sustainable and socially responsible solutions in higher education.
Prior to joining University of Lucknow:
Prior to joining University of Lucknow as Vice Chancellor, Prof. Rai served the Institute of Management Studies at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in different capacities. He has been Coordinator of Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) Program, Professor Incharge of Training Department, Professor Incharge of Library Committee and Member of Policy and Planning Committee, Faculty Council, Departmental Council and Departmental Research Committee at the Institute of Management Studies, BHU.
Prof. Rai holds expertise in the areas of Customer Relationship Management, Marketing Management and Entrepreneurship Development. His research interests revolve around the questions pertaining to Customer Relationship Modeling, Customer Loyalty Engineering, Service Quality Architecture, Customer Satisfaction Portfolio Design, etc. Having presented his scholastic perspectives and research products in over 75 publications that include 6 authored and 4 edited books and numerous book chapters, articles and research papers in the leading academic journals of consequence, Prof. Rai has long been inspiring the pivotal and profound inquiries in the realms of Customer Relationship Management, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Business Ethics and Management Education. He is credited with standardizing the curriculum content of Customer Relationship Management in India with his bestselling title ‘Customer Relationship Management: Concepts and Cases’ published by PHI Learning that brought his pioneering work on devising the mathematical formulae for computation of constructs viz. Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Satisfaction to fore. Prof. Rai also laid foundation of Customer Loyalty as an academic discipline with his oeuvre - ‘Customer Loyalty: Concept, Context and Character’. Published by McGraw Hills Ltd., this was the first book on the subject in the country.
As an avid academician, Prof. Rai has continued to be a prominent presence in sundry provinces of management education. As an expert for assessment and accreditation for NAAC, expert for MHRD for different committees, expert chairman/members of different committees for several regular and technical universities, Prof. Rai has long been dealing with diverse administrative responsibilities. He has also been on the Board of Studies/faculty selection/curriculum development committees of several leading universities and management colleges of the country.
He has delivered a large number of keynotes and invited lectures at various FDPs, Conferences, Seminars and Workshops in different parts of the country. He has been actively involved in providing professional training and consultancy services to different government departments such as Ministry of Defence, Dept. of Post and Telegraph, Central School Board etc., leading PSUs as BSNL, NTPC, ECGC, UPPCL, REC etc. and several private companies. He has organized 3 International conferences, 8 National Conferences, 5 National level FDPs and holds membership on various professional bodies like Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA), CRM Academy of Asia, ISOL Research Foundation, etc.