Soumitra Dutta, former dean at Oxford’s Said Business School, emphasized excellence and innovation during his tenure

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 05:37:00 +0000

Academic and author Soumitra Dutta has thought about innovation more deeply that most other people. He’s a co-developer of the Global Innovation Index, which ranks world economies on, well, their innovation capacity and output. The report is published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization; the 2025 report covered 139 countries and used 78 parameters for assessment.

As the dean of Oxford’s Said Business School (2022-2025), Soumitra Dutta’s broader goal was to move the school toward higher levels of excellence and impact “The core strength of Oxford lies in its excellence in research and the generation of innovative ideas. Consequently, our primary focus is to increase investments in research and the development of original concepts, which I believe is at the heart of our academic mission,” Soumitra Dutta had said in an interview (2024) to pagalguy.com, India’s largest education site for students looking to do an MBA. The University of Oxford is indeed a model of excellence when it comes to R&D. It topped the Times Higher Education World University rankings for the 10th straight year in 2026, owing primarily due to its exceptional research metrics. The university excelled in research quality (98.7/100) and citations impact, with its publications having exceptional global influence and esteem. Oxford University Innovation, the tech transfer arm of the University of Oxford, is the number one source of academic spinouts in the UK. It's worth adding that Soumitra Dutta himself is a prolific researcher; more than 80 of the papers/articles he’s authored/coauthored are listed on ResearchGate. He is the founder and President of the Portulans Institute in Washington D.C (USA).

Soumitra Dutta had emphasized a deeper integration of Said Business School with the broader ecosystem of the University of Oxford, including the Oxford Science Park, which hosts around 100 companies spanning domains such as life sciences, engineering and technology, and offers cutting-edge labs and office space. It supports innovation from start-ups and global corporations. During his tenure at Oxford’s Said Business School, Soumitra Dutta bolstered its technology infrastructure and capabilities. “In the past six months, we established Oxford Side Online, an internal Edtech unit. Its purpose extends beyond creating asynchronous and synchronous educational materials—it aims to build expertise in technology frontier areas, allowing us to experiment with AI, implement ChatGPT and similar language models, delve into NFTs, and explore their application in our product distribution portfolio,” said Soumitra Dutta, who’s also an entrepreneur who has co-founded two tech startups.

The articulate Soumitra Dutta, who held the position for around three years, positioned Said Business School as a thought leader on future of work, education and technological transformation. Under Soumitra Dutta’s leadership, the school strengthened its global partnerships and expanded corporate engagements.

Soumitra Dutta Former Oxford Dean - Blog

Soumitra Dutta, former dean at Oxford’s Said Business School, emphasized excellence and innovation during his tenure