Surprising many in the academic circles, Ashish Nanda, Director of the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, on Thursday announced he is stepping down from the post, well before his five-year term ends in September 2018.

In his resignation letter to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM-A, Kumar Mangalam Birla, on Wednesday, Nanda cited personal reasons that led to the decision. Birla accepted the resignation on Thursday.

Having worked as a Robert Braucher Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, Nanda became the successor to Samir Barua as the IIM-A Director in September 2013. The then Chairman of the Board of Governors and Chairman of L&T Group, AM Naik, had persuaded Nanda to head the institute and convinced him to come back to India from the US.

“Professor Nanda has been a visionary director for the institute,” said a source at IIM-A. “He took remarkable initiatives in the areas of academics and infrastructure, to keep the institute thriving with vibrancy. He held a meeting with the faculty members and informed them about his decision to step down.” An alumnus of the 1983 batch of IIM-A, Nanda will continue to hold the charge till September 1.

During his three-and-a-half years at the institute, Nanda took important initiatives such as introducing e-PGP — a two-year online course targeting working executives and entrepreneurs through an interactive on-site learning platform. Nanda’s seven-year experience at Harvard Law School and 13 years at Harvard Business School helped give IIM-A a new dimension with introduction of nearly 15 chaired professorships in areas such as leadership, strategic management and societal development. However, a section of people in the academic circles and IIM-A community members look at the abrupt end of Nanda’s tenure as an unusual one, and tries to read beyond the words.

Terming the timing of his exit as a “good time as any for leadership transition at the institute”, Nanda wrote to the members of the IIM-A community: “Personally, living a long distance from my wife and son has been a challenge. When I joined, I had committed to serving at most one term. On September 1, it will be four years, to the day, since I took charge. It is a good time to step aside and hand over the responsibility and honour of leading the institute to the next, fortunate person.”

Birla, in a letter to Nanda, released to the media, said: “In the few months that we have worked together, I have seen your unwavering commitment to IIM-A and the passion and zeal with which you have worked for its holistic progress”