At a joyful tribute, the University of Vermont Grossman School of Business recognized the outstanding legacy that will be left behind by Dean Sanjay Sharma and Professor Pramodita “Dita” Sharma, who will both officially retire at the end of the school year. At a celebratory dinner following the spring meeting of the Grossman School Board of Advisors, friends, colleagues, and family retold humorous anecdotes and shared heartfelt stories acknowledging the depth of the contributions that the Sharma's leave behind at the Grossman School of Business.
“As I prepare to retire from this role after 15 years, I do so with immense gratitude to our faculty, staff, outstanding students, generous alumni, donors and parents,” wrote Dean Sharma. “It has been a privilege to serve as Dean of the Grossman School of Business.”
A Reputation to Build a School Upon
Sanjay Sharma was appointed dean of the University of Vermont’s School of Business Administration effective July 1, 2011. Dean Sharma brought a rare combination of deep academic leadership and private sector experience, with more than 16 years in senior corporate roles and over two decades in higher education leadership. Before joining UVM, he served as Dean of the John Molson School of Business in Montreal, Canada’s largest English language business school, and previously held a Canada Research Chair in Organizational Sustainability at Wilfrid Laurier University. He founded the CMA Centre for Responsible Organizations, advancing interdisciplinary research and practice in sustainability, ethics, and corporate governance. A Fulbright Scholar, Dean Sharma is a globally recognized authority on corporate sustainability, strategy, and organizational innovation, with publications in the field’s top journals and nine books to his credit. His scholarship has earned numerous distinctions, including the Academy of Management ONE Division’s Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award and multiple Best Paper awards.
Dean Sharma also contributes internationally as Vice Chancellor of the International Academy of Management and serves on multiple global advisory and governance boards focused on responsible leadership and organizational sustainability.
Pramodita (Dita) Sharma is a globally recognized scholar in the field of family enterprise and a University Distinguished Professor as well as the Schlesinger-Grossman Chair of Family Business at the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business. Among the most highly cited researchers in family business studies worldwide, she has played a foundational role in shaping the field through influential research on succession, governance, innovation, sustainability, and next-generation leadership in family enterprises. Her scholarship has been published in leading academic journals and includes the authorship or co-authorship of more than a dozen widely used books, such as The SAGE Handbook of Family Business, Entrepreneurs in Every Generation, and Patient Capital. Professor Sharma served as editor of Family Business Review for nearly a decade, significantly elevating its global reach and impact. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary and has received honorary doctorates from universities in Sweden and Germany. Frequently invited to speak to both academic and practitioner audiences around the world, Sharma is known for bridging rigorous research with real-world relevance, informed in part by her close engagement with family enterprises across multiple cultures.
Sanjay Sharma - Elevating Grossman School to the Next Level
Several important milestones were achieved under the leadership of Dean Sharma. During his tenure at UVM, the largest individual gift in the history of the university was secured, and the school of business was renamed the Grossman School of Business in honor of Steven Grossman, a 1961 graduate and a long-time supporter of the school.
“As the school’s direction under the leadership of Dean Sanjay Sharma came into sharper focus, I felt that the business school was on the verge of a transformative change and what they needed to make the change was the right amount of capital. Thus, this gift was created. This process was not an exact science but rather a feeling from my heart and soul,” Grossman said.
The change to the business school was indeed transformative under Sharma, who led significant gains in global rankings, research capacity, and sustainability-focused education. Sharma has been instrumental in raising more than $100 million for the school - donations that have been used to expand endowed faculty positions, and to fully fund and complete the addition of Ifshin Hall and the renovation of Kalkin Hall. Under his leadership, the undergraduate curriculum was redesigned into an innovative matrix of concentrations and themes, driving higher selectivity, stronger academic profiles, and increased enrollment. These changes all led to national and global recognition for the Grossman School, including rankings among the top 3 in the US and top 9 in the world in the Positive Impact Ratings released at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020. In 2014, a new Sustainable Innovation MBA (SI-MBA) program was launched, and that has been consistently ranked #1 or #2 in the U.S. by The Princeton Review and #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the world by Corporate Knights.
His leadership emphasized preparing managers to operate in complex, global, and sustainable business environments while strengthening institutional research and fundraising. UVM leaders praised Sharma’s combination of scholarly achievement, real-world management experience, and strategic vision, all of which Sharma used to advance the school’s reputation and mission. Sharma also increased the engagement of faculty, alumni, and Vermont’s business community to grow the school’s impact and contribute to the state’s economic vitality.
Pramodita Sharma - A Focus on Family Business
Dita Sharma also leaves behind several contributions, especially in the field of family business. Sharma is a founding member of the Family Enterprise Research Conference (FERC), an annual gathering that celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. During her time at UVM, she helped to establish and host the Vermont Legacy and Family Enterprise Awards (VLFEA), recognizing first-generation and multi-generation family enterprises both locally and globally during an annual awards ceremony. After a full decade in this format, the event recently evolved into the Leadership and Legacy Series, inviting global businesses to speak to different facets of family business each year.
In 2013, Sharma co-founded the Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition (SG-FECC). Now one of the premier events at the Grossman School of Business, SG-FECC prepares participants to understand the critical issues that are unique to family enterprises. Complex family business cases based on real-world situations require students to apply the knowledge and expertise they have developed in the classroom in efforts to reach business savvy solutions. Organized and run entirely by students, the event brings dozens of schools on an international scale to the UVM campus each January, and it has grown in reputation to become known as the “World Cup” of business competition.
An Evening of Celebration, A Campaign of Legacy
Following the semi-annual gathering, the Grossman School of Business Board of Advisors hosted a celebratory dinner at the Vermont National Country Club in Burlington for Dean and Professor Sharma. Laughter, admiration, and genuine affection filled the room as friends, family, and colleagues took time to recognize the outstanding contributions that the Sharmas will leave behind. The room also included many of the donors that worked with Dean Sharma to transform the program into the internationally ranked, AACSB-certified school that it is today.
In reflecting on the Sharmas’ time at the University of Vermont, President Marlene Tromp described leadership that reshaped not just programs, but the very character and trajectory of the institution. Through globally recognized scholarship and a deep commitment to values‑driven education, their work positioned UVM as a center of influence in family enterprise and sustainable business. Under Sanjay Sharma’s guidance, the Grossman School of Business emerged with renewed energy and distinction, earning elite accreditation, launching the acclaimed Sustainable Innovation MBA, and attracting exceptional faculty and students. Just as importantly, their leadership fostered a vibrant, engaged community whose belief in UVM’s mission continues to fuel its momentum. Tromp emphasized that the true measure of their legacy will be felt long after their tenure, as generations of students and alumni benefit from what they built.
Speaking during the celebration, Gregory W. Hunt—Managing Director at Apollo Global Management, Co-Chair of the Grossman School of Business Board of Advisors, and a longstanding board member—reflected on the depth and durability of the Sharmas’ impact. “The University of Vermont is fundamentally better, stronger, and more vibrant because of the tireless contributions and the heart that Sanjay and Dita have poured into this community,” Hunt said. He pointed to Sanjay Sharma’s “transformative leadership” of the Grossman School of Business as a model of academic success measured not only in milestones, “but in mentorship, community, and legacy.”
The dinner served as both a celebration of what has been accomplished and a statement of what the Sharma legacy will continue to make possible at the Grossman School of Business. In the summer of 2025, a campaign was launched to create a fund supporting scholarships for Grossman School students in the name of Sanjay and Dita Sharma. Jumpstarted by a generous $1 million gift, the Sharma Legacy has since surpassed its goal of 250 individual donors and has raised nearly $4.8 million for the school. The fund will remain open to donations through the month of May; those interested in participating in the campaign can find more information online.
As the Grossman School community continues to applaud the years of service that Dean and Professor Sharma leave behind, all eyes are also turned to the future. Succeeding Dean Sharma will be Professor Vikas Anand, who currently serves as Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University and will assume his new role on July 1, 2026.