Dr. M.V. Krishna Kumar is a seasoned senior executive from the Petroleum Industry and Former Executive Director of Corporate Consulting and Professor of Global Business at Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management. As Petroleum Executive, Dr. Kumar was coordinating Strategic Planning involving hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investments every year. At Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, Dr.Kumar started the Corporate Consulting Program and carried out over 150 international projects involving many Fortune 500 companies the world over.
Dr. Kumar’s corporate profile includes 17 years in sales, marketing, and management with Caltex India Ltd, culminating in his role as General Manager of Marketing, Projects and Management (1961-78). He spent 2 years as the Executive Director of a large Indian conglomerate before returning to Caltex Petroleum to join the strategic planning team at the corporate headquarters in Dallas, TX (1981-95), where he rose to the position of Vice President of Strategic Planning. Dr. Kumar also served as Special Assistant to the President of Caltex on the Acquisition of Gulf Oil Trading Company (Gotco). In 1995 Dr. Kumar launched the Thunderbird Corporate Consulting Program, managing student and faculty teams to deliver global consulting services to corporate clients.
Throughout his professional career Dr. Kumar has held adjunct faculty positions, teaching marketing and management courses at New York University, Southern Methodist University, The Swedish Institute of Management, Thunderbird – Garvin School of International Management, and several top Indian Universities. Dr. Kumar is a recognized leader in the field of strategic planning and business modeling. He is expert in the practice of applying advanced mathematics to evaluate business opportunities and drive the strategic planning process. Dr. Kumar holds a PhD in Management Studies from the University of Bombay, an MA in Physics and Mathematics from Cambridge University, and an MA in Physics from the University of Madras in India.