Biography

R. Raghavendra Kumar Sharma is a distinguished academic and researcher with a career spanning over three decades. Born on January 12, 1959, he began his professional journey as a Graduate Engineer Trainee at Tata Engineering Locomotive Company Ltd. (TELCO) from 1980 to 1982, where he gained foundational experience in production, maintenance, and design engineering. Subsequently, he served as a Marketing Executive at TVS-Suzuki Ltd. from 1988 to 1989 before pursuing advanced studies.

Dr. Sharma earned a Fellow Program in Management (FPM), equivalent to a Ph.D., from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad from 1982 to 1988. Since then, he has dedicated 35 years to academia, primarily at the Department of Management Sciences (formerly the Department of Industrial and Management Engineering) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. He retired as a Professor on January 31, 2024, and was re-employed until June 30, 2024, underscoring the value of his expertise and contributions.

Dr. Sharma is a versatile educator, having taught over 22 courses across B.Tech., M.Tech., and MBA programs. His teaching and research span integrated management, operations research, production and operations management, manufacturing strategy, and general management. He has authored or co-authored 12 books and published over 1230 academic outputs, including 409 peer-reviewed publications, with 133 indexed in Scopus. His research excellence has earned him the ABDC C category recognition for 31 publications as of 2013.

Dr. Sharma has supervised 69 M.Tech. theses and 24 Ph.D. theses at IIT Kanpur and developed over 10 software packages related to optimization and simulation in management. His contributions to education and research have been widely recognized with numerous accolades, including:

Fellow of AIMS International (2012)

Dr. Manubhai M. Shah Memorial Award (2013)

Distinguished Educator Award from IEOM Society, USA (2016)

Top Ten Knowledge Producers in India (2017–18)

Fellow of IEOM Society, USA (2024)

He has also served as an expert for the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s (MHRD) NIRF Rankings Survey and contributed to global ranking exercises by QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education. Dr. Sharma’s work reflects a deep commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and the advancement of management sciences in India and globally.

Research Interest

Operations Research

Production and Operations Management

Manufacturing Strategy & Strategy

General Management

Health Care Management (side interest)