Professor Mira Bakhru served at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) from April 1974 until her retirement in April 2006, completing more than three decades of association with the Institute. She began as a Research Fellow and rose through the ranks to become Associate Professor in the Economics and Social Sciences Area. Her enduring academic contribution was the core course Indian Society, which she taught from 1981 to 2004, introducing students to the socio-economic and political contexts within which management operates. A hallmark of her pedagogy was experiential learning, where students undertook projects on issues such as Panchayati Raj, urban slum development, migrant tribals, hospital waste management, rainwater harvesting, and microfinance.

Alongside teaching in the Post Graduate Programme (PGP), she contributed to executive education and organization-based programmes, collaborating with colleagues and NGOs to link theory with practice. Her research interests lay in public enterprises, accountability, welfare schemes, and centre-state relations. She co-authored studies with Prof. M.N.V. Nair and others, including pioneering work on accountability in public enterprises and public housing schemes in Karnataka. She was also entrusted with producing IIMB’s first Faculty Profile, a significant institutional record.

Prof. Bakhru played a vital role in institution-building during IIMB’s formative years, participating in curriculum debates, campus development, and fostering collegiality. Her oral history interview reflects on her academic journey, the evolution of IIMB’s vision from public sector focus to broader management education, her commitment to inclusivity, and her advocacy for socially relevant management pedagogy.