By PATRICK JONAS

WHEN we heard that Dr Jitendra Vir Singh, the dean of Nanyang Technological University's (NTU's) business school, had quit earlier this month, there was speculation that it was over funding issues.

This was even after NTU president Su Guaning had informed the staff and students that Prof Singh quit due to 'considerable challenges on the personal front'.

As the money factor lingered in the minds of many, the new interim dean of the NBS, Ms Gillian Yeo, cleared the air in an interview with The Business Times that Prof Singh had not quit over a request for additional funding to recruit new faculty for the school.

But what does the man himself have to say?

Prof Singh, 54, had told tabla! in December last year that even though he missed his family, he was staying on in Singapore because 'I have a job to do: To build a world-class business school. One that Singapore and all of Asia will be proud of'.

And he proved that he meant business.

In January, the Financial Times ranked the school's Master of Business Administration programme No. 24 in the world - the highest ranking ever for a Singapore business school. When Prof Singh joined NBS less than two years ago, it was placed 67th.

Prof Singh is back in Wharton, where he is the Saul P. Steinberg Professor of Management at The Wharton School. In an e-mail chat with tabla!, he explained why he quit and detailed his plans for the future.

'My decision to return to Wharton was quite a difficult one and something I had to think about a great deal and carefully,' he said.

'On the one hand, as stated by NTU president Su Guaning, my wife and children have been back in the US since last August, since my older daughter had a degree of difficulty adjusting to schooling in Singapore, largely because she entered school in the middle of the school year in January 2007. So my wife and I decided it was better for them to return to the US and have her go to her old school.

'On the other hand, I had enjoyed greatly my time in Singapore, both while working as dean at Nanyang Business School, and as a member of the NTU cabinet working closely with President Su on NTU-related matters. This leadership experience at NTU, together with a level of involvement with other Singaporean institutions, was a valuable learning experience. My experience as dean was very positive.

'However, in the short to medium term, it seemed to make sense that I should come back to Wharton and be with my family, and to leave with much positive momentum at NBS.'

According to Prof Singh, Dr Su Guaning wants him to stay on as Senior Adviser to him, especially with regard to NBS.

'The specific details of my involvement will likely evolve over time; suffice is to say that he wants me to help and I am willing to do so, time permitting.

I may also serve on the Nanyang Business School Advisory Board. This will keep bringing me back to Singapore from time to time. I look forward to this since, in the last two years, I have become quite fond of Singapore and I have made many good friends there.'

For the longer term, Prof Singh says he will continue to do research related to Indian business and hopefully on Chinese business as well.

'This will keep me engaged with Asia on a continuing basis, and Singapore is one of the best places to work from on these interests,' he says.

Prof Singh has a keen interest in Indian business. He has been a director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Pune, since 2003. He is a former director of Infosys.

In fact, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy values his input so much that he acknowledged it in his book A Better India, A Better World, launched in Singapore earlier this month.

Prof Singh himself has recently written two books related to India. The first one, Emerging Multinationals From Emerging Markets (co-edited with Ravi Ramamurti), was published by Cambridge University Press in March 2009.

The second book called The India Way: How India's Top Business Leaders Are Revolutionizing Management is currently in the publication process with Harvard Business School Press and should be out later this year.

Prof Singh may have quit as dean of NBS but, given his keen interest in India, China and Singapore, we are surely going to hear more of him in the years ahead.