Meet Sudipta Dasmohapatra: The Professor With a Passion for Data

Sudipta Dasmohapatra, Georgetown McDonough’s new senior associate dean of MBA programs, joined Georgetown in June 2020 as the academic director of the M.S. in Business Analytics program, which launched in January 2021. With experience teaching in a similar program at North Carolina State and leading one at Duke University, Dasmohapatra successfully led the program through its first two years. Now, she will take her passion for learning and data to Georgetown’s MBA programs – helping other quants (and poets) achieve their goals and reach their full potential.

How did you choose your career path?

During my Ph.D. program at Penn State, I realized I had a passion for statistics and data. I especially enjoyed working with data and new programming languages (SPSS, Stata, Minitab, and SAS at that time). Following my Ph.D., I interviewed with consulting firms and joined a boutique firm in Denver, Colorado, for about a year where I had an opportunity to put my learning into practice. Following that, I moved to a larger consulting firm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where my focus was on delivering segmentation and advanced data-driven marketing solutions, which paved my way further into data analytics. Then, I joined the nation’s first M.S. in Advanced Analytics program at North Carolina State as a faculty member in 2008 where I taught for about 10 years prior to joining Duke’s Statistics Department and the Business School and then Georgetown.

What is your personal philosophy?

I like to surround myself with creative people who care about each other. I am also passionate about learning and passing it on to others so they can derive success from it. I love to try out new things, I am constantly looking for personal development, and I am quite spontaneous.  

What are students surprised to learn about you during the program?

That I am a vocalist and that I learned classical Indian music for close to 10 years prior to graduating high school. 

What can we find you doing outside of Georgetown?

I enjoy trying out new restaurants and new dishes. I am a new-age foodie and enjoy hearing the history and story behind the food – this is very closely tied to my love for travel and experiencing new cultures. In fact, if you really want to get to know a place in a short visit, I would suggest a food tour of that place (it comes with stories behind the establishments and the town). 

During the weekends, you can find me hanging out with friends in our boat or kayak at the lake behind our house or spending time reading. 

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The best piece of advice came from my dad when I was leaving home at 17 years old to go to college in a different state. He said, “you need to have faith in yourself and remain committed to what you are doing – and hopefully the outcomes will follow.” I try to follow that principle in everything I take on.

What has been the biggest change to the business world since you started teaching?

I am seeing more and more business decisions made based on data in all industries and across organizations – small, medium, and large. Additionally, the world has gone digital – this has brought about new and transformational business models that are making things more efficient and accessible. 

How would you describe the sense of community at Georgetown McDonough?

The Georgetown McDonough community shares a sense of bond that can last a lifetime for our students. Our institution fosters excellence by focusing on learning as an art of collaboration and practice. To that end, we are recognized globally for graduating students who are academically strong and self aware of how their business decisions will impact society and the community at large. We see this culture personified in our classrooms, student connections, alumni engagements, and long-term partnerships with external constituents, among others.

What do you hope students take away from Georgetown’s MBA programs?

The ability to lead strategically and analytically, create value, adapt to change, and make ethical business decisions.

What is the one thing you recommend a student does before graduating from your program?

Form a few deep relationships with peers and alumni who can support and mentor you in your career and become life assets.