On 8 September 2006, the first Board Meeting of School of Management (SOM) was held at AIT. The meeting was opened by Prof. Indra M. Pandey, Dean of SOM, who welcomed all the members of the Board. During the meeting, Mr. Narayana Murthy was nominated by AIT President Said Irandoust as Chairman of the School Board, which was unanimously accepted.
Two proposed new initiatives by SOM faculty members were approved by the Board Members -- the starting of Executive MBA program Dong Nai which is the heart of the high technology development zone of Vietnam, proposed by Dr. Fredric W. Swierczek; and a 15-month EMBA program with triple specializations including International Business, Management of Technology, and Entrepreneurship, proposed by Prof. Lalit Johri. The program includes 3 offshore weeks in South Korea, China, and India. The Board appreciated SOM's efforts and initiatives in executive Masters and Doctoral level education.
The Board Meeting was attended by Mr. Dilip Gokhale, CEO, Asia-Pacific, Syngenta Seeds Ltd., Thailand; Mr. John William Hancock, Honorary Chairman and Senior Advisor, Baker & McKenzie Co., Ltd., Thailand; Prof. Said Irandoust, AIT President; Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Dean, School of Engineering and Technology (SET); Prof. Sivanappan Kumar, Dean, School of Environmental and Development (SERD); Mr. Narayana N R Murthy, Chairman of Board of Directors and Chief Mentor, Infosys, India; Prof. Indra M. Pandey, Dean of SOM; Mr. Apisak Tantivorawong, President, Krung Thai Bank PLC, Thailand; Dr. Ajva Taulananda, Vice-chairman, C P Group, Thailand; and Mr. Suraj Vaidya, President & CEO, VOITH, Nepal.