Mumbai: Indian School of Business (ISB) has announced an expansion to its impressive governing board with the inclusion of Arshad Zakaria (executive vice-president and chairman, [global markets and investment], Merrill Lynch and Banking) and Arun Sarin (chairman, Vodafone PLC).

Says ISB dean Vijay Mahajan: "The support of such industry stalwarts like Zakaria and Sarin strengthens us in our mission to provide high-quality management education."

Zakaria has held a succession of senior roles at Merrill Lynch, including serving as head of corporate finance and then as senior vice-president, corporate risk management, before becoming president of GMI in October 2001. He served as chief operating officer and, later as head of the Global Corporate Finance Group.

Zakaria received a BA degree, summa cum laude, in applied mathematics from Harvard University, and received his MBA with high distinction from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and recipient of the Loeb-Rhoades Fellowship in Finance.

Sarin was appointed CEO of the Vodafone group on 31 July 2003. Previously he was the CEO for the US and the Asia Pacific region until 15 April 2000, when he became a non-executive director. He was a director of AirTouch from July 1995 and was the president and chief operating officer from February 1997 to June 1999.

Recently ISB had announced the inclusion of James Murdoch, chairman and CEO of Star group, and Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell. Zakaria and Sarin join them and other illustrious business leaders on ISB's governing board. The ISB board is chaired by Rajat Gupta, senior partner, Mckinsey Worldwide.

ISB is a research-oriented independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world. Its partnership with the Kellogg School of Management, Wharton School, and London Business School make it one of its kind in Asia. ISB offers a one-year post-graduate programme; short-duration, high-powered executive education programmes for CEOs and senior executives; and a two-year research fellowship programme. The school's faculty has distinguished themselves as researchers, policymakers, consultants, authors, and entrepreneurs, and represent a highly valued asset to the school.