With a PhD in Marketing, as well as an M. Com, M.S. (Psychotherapy and Counselling), and a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychological Counselling, Dr. Anita Patankar is the Founder-Director of Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA) and has led the institute since its inception in 2011. As a pioneer educator of liberal arts in India, she is the only Indian representative and founder member of the Alliance of Asian Liberal Arts Universities. With over 37 years of expertise in the field of higher education, she is the founding member of India’s first institute for liberal arts, the Symbiosis Centre for Liberal Arts and the Centre for International Initiatives. She is the Director at the Symbiosis Centre for International Studies (SCIE).
Dr. Patankar’s teaching career has seen her head the Department of Marketing at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce (SCAC). Her courses such as Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, and Advertising and Contemporary Culture, were much sought after. With numerous papers published in prestigious international journals, she has also co-authored three textbooks in Marketing and Business Administration, edited several books for Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, and taught Marketing at the PG and MBA level; in addition to conducting workshops on Communication Skills, Learning Pedagogies, Parenting Young Adults and Personality Development.
Her multi-hued career led her to become a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) India-Africa committee. She is also a Trustee on the board of ECONET, an NGO dedicated to offering support in the field of human and institutional development.
We live in a world that seems to be forever changing… a new world with dynamic challenges that requires young enthusiastic adults capable of playing positive and fruitful roles in organizations and communities. Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA) strongly believes in the importance of a comprehensive education in preparation for career advancement and the exercise of leadership. We believe organizations and society have an urgent need for creative individuals who will readily learn on the job, after having been exposed to a broad and comprehensive education. Based on our experiences with liberal arts in the last 16 years, we know that a sound liberal arts education provides a much needed cultural orientation to the world in which we live. It equips students with ideas, analytical and communication skills, and global perspectives along with the ability to synthesize knowledge and make informed value judgments. Our distinctive 4-year honours programme will also help students learn the importance of being personally and socially responsible, something so necessary to grow into leaders of substance, and be happy and successful in their future personal, community and professional lives.