Dr. Neha Patel, PhD, is the Director Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies (MBA), and an accomplished academic leader with over 30 years of experience across academia, industry, research, consultancy, and institutional leadership. Known for blending academic rigor with industry relevance, she has consistently worked towards making management education contemporary, dynamic, experiential, and aligned with evolving industry requirements and future-ready skills.
Under her leadership, the institute successfully secured NBA Accreditation in 2023, becoming the only institute in Ahmedabad under Gujarat Technological University to achieve the prestigious 3-year accreditation. As the institutional lead for the accreditation process, she played a pivotal role in strengthening academic quality, research culture, outcome-based education, faculty development, and industry integration.
Dr. Patel has been instrumental in introducing innovative academic and student development initiatives beyond the GTU curriculum, including courses such as Campus to Corporate, Python for Finance Students, AI for Marketing, and AI for Finance among others in the recent past. She also introduced structured faculty-student mentoring initiatives, social outreach programs, alumni engagement activities, and mandatory total 160 hours of student training to enhance employability and holistic student development. Under her guidance, the institute has achieved close to 100% placements among students opting for placements and has strengthened its industry associations and alumni ecosystem connecting over 4,300 alumni.
An accomplished researcher and mentor, Dr. Patel has authored numerous publications in Scopus-indexed, ABDC, UGC CARE, Web of Science, and peer-reviewed journals, and has reviewed multiple research papers for academic publications and conferences. She has successfully guided eight PhD scholars — including six as Co-guide and two as Solo Research Guide — while currently mentoring three doctoral scholars in Management. She is also a PhD evaluator across universities. Recently, her Research Promotion Scheme for Minor Research Project (RPS-MRP Cycle 4) has also been accepted by Gujarat Technological University, and she holds one patent to her credit.
Dr. Patel has played a significant role in strengthening case-based learning and academic innovation through the institute’s annual Case Book initiative, currently in its fourth edition, with the last two editions featuring international co-editors and co-editors from reputed national-level institutions. Under her guidance, the institute has undertaken consultancy and training assignments exceeding ₹25 lakhs in areas including Finance, Banking, communication strategy, retail mapping, branding, and marketing.
She actively collaborates with leading academic, research, and innovation ecosystems including Pandit Deendayal Energy University Innovation and Incubation Council, Consumer Education and Research Centre among others, contributing towards entrepreneurship, innovation, and industry-academia engagement initiatives. In the past few months, she has been invited as a Mentor for National level Techstars Startup Weekend, as a Jury Member for Nirman 2.0 National Level Business Plan Competition among many others. In recognition of the institute’s continued social commitment and community engagement, the institute has also been honoured by Indian Red Cross Society Ahmedabad for thier consistent support and contribution over the past four years
Prior to academia, she built a successful corporate career with Mudra Communications (DDB Needham India) and Triton Communications, along with strategic business development experience in an IT startup focused on South East Asian markets.
Her areas of interest include Advertising, Strategic Branding, Consumer Behaviour, Sustainability, Green Marketing, Environmental Consciousness, among others.
