Board of Governors

MR. GEORGE M THOMAS

President ASB Trust

Mr. George M. Thomas is currently the Group Chairman of Saif Al Harasi & Burj Oman LLC Group of companies that has been operating in the Sultanate of Oman for nearly three decades. Mr. Thomas was instrumental in nurturing several institutions in the area of infrastructure development, hospitality and learning. His infrastructure development firms have successfully managed several prestigious turn key projects in the public and private sector and is a leader in infrastructure projects in the Sultanate of Oman. His social commitment, passion for world class education and vision of nurturing future leaders led to the formation world class educational institutions in Kerala. The Trivandrum International School which was founded in the year 2004 was the pioneer IB World School in Kerala offering international curriculum including IB PYP, IB DP, IGCSE apart from ICSE & ISC. The success of Trivandrum International School and the dearth of a quality business school in Trivandrum inspired him to start a high quality business school. the Asian School of Business in Trivandrum within the sprawling Technocity campus in the year 2005.

MR. SOJAN VARGHESE

Member Governing Board Trustee ASB Trust

Mr. Sojan Varghese is a young business leader, successfully steering two infrastructure development firms in Muscat namely Burj Oman LLC and Saif Al Harasi & Co. LLC towards its next phase of growth and development. His earlier assignments included engineering and management roles in large corporates namely Godrej and Boyce, Carrier and Dorma. Mr. Sojan Varghese is a graduate engineer who also holds a MBA from the Durham University UK

Dr . C. Krishna Kumar

Director-ASB

Krishna Kumar is a mechanical engineer from NIT Calicut. He completed his Postgraduation in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He received his Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Liverpool, U. K..  He has over 28 years of corporate  experience in India, the Middle East and Africa. He has handled assignments in sales, marketing, retailing, exports and sourcing. His strengths are conceptualization and implementation of operating systems and processes. He is passionate about teaching and sharing his industry experience to budding managers and demonstrating how theories of marketing are applied to real-life situations in the field. His research interest is in the area of Consumer Behaviour.

Mr. K. Paul Thomas

Governing Council Member

K. Paul Thomas is the Founder of ESAF Group of Social Enterprises including ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt Ltd. He has been a management professional for over 32 years out of which more than 25 years are in the microfinance sector. Before starting the microfinance program, Mr. Paul Thomas had worked with Indian Farmers Fertilizers Co-operative Ltd (IFFCO) the world’s largest cooperative owned fertilizer company for 18 years during which he travelled extensively through rural India. During these trips, he came to the realization that community transformation is possible through creating opportunities. This inspired him to start microfinance lending under the ESAF society. He was on the Boards of apex microfinance bodies like MFIN and he is the founder and President of Kerala Association of Microfinance Institutional Entrepreneurs (KAMFI).

Mr. V K Mathews

Governing Council Member

V K Mathews is the Founder and Executive Chairman of The IBS Group. Mathews founded IBS in 1997 with a vision to redefine the way the global travel, transportation and logistics industries managed their businesses. IBS today is a multinational corporation, serving over 200 clients worldwide, employing over 3000 professionals from 30 different nationalities and poised to be the No. 1 IT solution provider to the global air transportation industry. Mathews holds several important positions in Government agencies, academic institutions and trade bodies in India. He was the Executive Council Member of NASSCOM, the premier trade body of the IT-BPO industries in India and has served as the Chairman of the NASSCOM Regional Council. He currently chairs several institutions including Trivandrum Agenda Task Force and Trivandrum CityConnect Foundation. He is a Member of the Kerala Chief Minister’s High Power IT Committee (HPIC), as well as the Advisory Body of the Kerala State Higher Education Council and a Member of the Board of Directors of Kerala ICT Academy and Technopark, Kerala, India. Mathews is the past Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Kerala and a current member of CII Southern Regional Council. He has received several awards from the Government, media and trade associations including Management Leadership Award, Business Man of the Year Award, IT Man of the Year Award, Millennium Leadership Award and Enterprise Excellence Award.Mathews holds a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and had executive management education from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.

Mr. R. Sriram

Governing Council Member

Sriram is the co-founder of  Crossword, India’s leading bookstore chain. Sriram stepped down from Crossword in August 2006 & co-founded “Next Practice Retail” that offers business design, incubation & consulting services for consumer & retail businesses.He is an advisor to Seedfund, the early stage venture fund and to several of its investee companies. He is an Independent Director on the Boards of Kokuyo Camlin Ltd and Kokuyo Camlin Alphakids Ltd. He served as President of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Mumbai, the global not-for-profit organization that fosters entrepreneurship & entrepreneurs (2010-12) & continues to serve on its board.

Sriram serves on the board of trustees of the non-profit – Society For Nutrition Education & Health Action (SNEHA) for women & children in urban slums. He’s a visiting faculty at IIM A & a guest lecturer at IIM L & other business schools as it helps him keep learning. He advises & mentors individuals & firms. He is particularly interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, business strategy & incubation, purpose & culture, leadership & next practices. He remains a student & book evangelist.

Ms. Sapnu George

Governing Council Member

Sapnu George, Executive Director, Trivandrum International School, Cochin International School, The Charter School.She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Manipal Institute of Technology and a Master’s from the New York School of Interior Design. She is also a member of the CII Kerala State Council. She works towards her family’s mission of inculcating a passion for learning and caring in children, within their group of schools.

Dr. Priestly Shan

Governing Council Member

Dr. Priestly Shan is currently serving as the Pro Vice Chancellor, Alliance University, Bangalore.

He has more than 18 years’ experience in Teaching & Managing Universities and Colleges. Specialties: Academic Planning, Accreditations- (NBA, ABET, NAAC, AACSB), Rankings - (NIRF, QS, THE) Faculty Recruitment and Development,Student Engagement, Outcome Based Education Planning and Implementation, Curriculum Development, Research Interest - Space ecosystem development, Image Processing, medical Image Analysis and Development of Medical Decision Support Systems, Space Applications.

Mr. Roshan Kaynadi

Governing Council Member

He is the CEO & Co-founder of ZuperAp . He is a passionate Agripreneur who is actively involved in attracting and inspiring youth to join agriculture. He is an advocate of modern technology for farmers to yield profits and is a sought-after resource person in the area.

Prof. Dipu B.

Governing Council Member

Prof. Dipu B. holds an Engineering bachelors (B.E) in Electronics and Communication (ECE) and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Anna University. His areas of expertise includes Organisational Behaviour, Human Resources Management, Industrial Relations and Information Technology. At present, he is the Postgraduate Programme Coordinator at the Asian School of Business.