Sudhakar Balachandran Joins Farley as Visiting Associate Professor

Balachandran will provide guest lectures and advise students on startup economics during his appointment.

The Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is delighted to welcome Sudhakar "Sid" Balachandran to campus as a visiting associate professor. Balachandran, former director of the MBA program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is joining the Farley Center during his sabbatical year, with an appointment running through June 2027. 

An associate professor of accounting at UIC, Balachandran holds degrees from Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Kellogg School of Management. He earned his doctorate at Harvard Business School. Before UIC, he spent a decade at Columbia Business School, where he served as assistant dean for teaching excellence and directed multiple executive education programs, earning Columbia's Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has also taught at INSEAD and Kellogg, and his writing has appeared in Harvard Business School Press, Columbia CaseWorks, Forbes and the Financial Times. 

While at Northwestern, Balachandran will guest lecture in Farley classes. He also will be available for student meetings at both the Farley Center and The Garage. His areas of expertise include, but are not limited to: 

• Startup economics and fundraising 

• How to read and interpret financial statements 

• How to value a business, and what drives that value 

• What to watch for when evaluating the profitability of products and customers 

• Understanding and interpreting common financial ratios used to evaluate performance 

"We're grateful Dr. Balachandran is spending his sabbatical here at Northwestern," said Hayes Ferguson, Endowed Director of the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “The vast knowledge and experience he has will be an invaluable resource for our students."