New business chair embraces educating and building relationships at Mount Marty

For Dr. Lakshman Chandrashekhar, to begin teaching at Mount Marty University this fall is to go back to his roots. "The people here are absolutely nice. I have been away from the Midwest long enough to know how nice the people here are,” says the new Business Department Chair. 

Originally from Chennai, India, Dr. Chandrashekhar has now been in the United States for more than thirty years, much of it in the Midwest. He first arrived in the US to begin an MBA program at Iowa State University. He later finished his MBA at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and earned his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Business Administration with a specialization in Organizational Studies. 

Indeed, Dr. Chandrashekhar is a global citizen. "That is close to my heart,” he says from his office in Bede Hall. He moved to Yankton this past August and knew he was in the right place when his neighbors treated him to cookies and salsa, and even loaned him a lawn mower. However, he was not always destined for a career as a business professor. His undergraduate degree is in electrical engineering and his first job was selling television components to large manufacturers. "I wanted to continue with industrial marketing but that didn’t happen due to the 1992 recession. I ended up getting into a Ph.D. program just so I could have some money to cover my loans, and the rest is history.” While starting a Ph.D. program is not the most common route to financial stability, it makes total sense coming from Dr. Chandrashekhar. "I spent a long, long time as a student. That’s what gives me pleasure. I immerse myself. That’s my being. If I don’t do that, I feel like something is missing.” 

He has certainly immersed himself at Mount Marty, where he can be found eating lunch daily in the Dining Hall with his colleagues and attending numerous athletic and fine arts programs. He felt welcome right away on campus thanks to fellow Business Department faculty member Terry Stull. "He’s been the most hospitable guy. He’s kind of like a big brother, and nobody assigned him that role. He’s been that way since I got here.” Dr. Chandrashekhar marvels at Stull’s memory of his students and notes that, at sporting events, he points out the business administration majors effortlessly. 

Now in his fourth decade of teaching, Dr. Chandrashekhar enjoys lecturing on topics like knowledge leadership and doing business internationally. His book, "Knowledge Leadership: Tools for Executive Leaders," includes much of the research he completed for his doctoral dissertation. But more than anything, Dr. Chandrashekhar is interested in personal development. "My focus is on building the whole person, training students not only on their mind but also training their heart.” 

Dr. Chandrashekhar lives alone in Yankton but often sees his wife, Dr. Sangeetha Lakshman, either here in Yankton or in North Carolina, where Dr. Lakshman is an associate professor of marketing at Winston-Salem State University. They recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. He and his wife prefer the colder climate of the Midwest, but they go back to India annually to visit friends and family in his hometown of Chennai. "We know only hot, hotter, and hottest” weather in Chennai, quips Dr. Chandrashekhar. He enjoys kayaking Lake Yankton, watching Kansas City Chiefs football, and is an avid hiker and lover of Italian food. 

Welcome back to the Midwest, Dr. Chandrashekhar!

###

About Dr. Lakshman Chandrashekhar

Dr. Chandrashekhar is the Business Department Chair at Mount Marty University. He and his wife, Sangeetha, have been married for 25 years. He earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Madurai Kamaraj University in Madurai, India, his Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Business Administration. He most recently lived in Boca Raton, Florida, where he taught International Business at Florida Atlantic University. He has written two books: Knowledge Leadership: Tools for Executive Leaders and Doing Business in India.

About Mount Marty University

Founded in 1936 by the Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, Mount Marty University is South Dakota's only Catholic institution of higher education. Located along the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton, with additional locations in Watertown and Sioux Falls, Mount Marty offers undergraduate and graduate degrees focusing on student and alumni success in high-demand fields such as health sciences, education, criminal justice, business, accounting, and more. A community of learners in the Benedictine tradition, Mount Marty emphasizes academic excellence and develops well-rounded students with intellectual competence, professional and personal skills and moral, spiritual and social values. To learn more, visit mountmarty.edu.