STORY BY Dawn Tolbert
Dr. Sandeep Mazumder understands the concept of worth, both through the lens of an internationally respected economist and as an accomplished leader in higher education with a deep appreciation for others.
Upon learning of Martha Berry’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to helping students willing to help themselves, the London-born Mazumder immediately recognized great worth in Berry. Equally important to him, he saw reflections of his own values: a belief in the power of education to address changing times, a commitment to instilling a strong work ethic and a desire to encourage a mindset of serving others – all rooted in Christian faith.
These qualities led him to pursue the opportunity to become Berry’s ninth president, and on July 1 he officially stepped into the role, emerging from a rigorous national search as the leader deemed best suited to succeed Dr. Steve Briggs, who has retired after 19 years.
Mazumder came to Berry from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he spent four years as dean of the Hankamer School of Business, working alongside faculty and staff to meet the needs of approximately 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students, more than 20% of Baylor’s total enrollment. Among his many accomplishments were planning and implementing strategic initiatives that aided in boosting Baylor’s profile as a national and international leader in innovation and discovery, as well as fundraising success for the business school topping $107 million during his tenure.
Since his Berry appointment in November 2024, Mazumder has logged countless hours of onboarding through in-person and Zoom meetings. There also have been regular conversations with his predecessor, all while seeing to his duties at Baylor.
Now the husband and father of three is excited to be pursuing his “calling” as Berry president, approaching his new responsibilities with gratitude, humility, a willingness to get right to work and a characteristic broad smile.
“It’s an honor and blessing to be chosen to lead Berry,” he reflected. “I get to come in after all these amazing leaders who’ve done tremendous work – all the way back to Martha Berry herself. The ideals on which she built the school resonated with me from the first time I read them. I’m going to carry them with me as we move forward together.”
With almost equal years spent living in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mazumder brings a global perspective to complement his deep faith, thoughtful leadership and long-term view of service through education, traits that seem uniquely suited to Berry’s next chapter. His message is clear: Berry’s legacy is strong, and its story needs to be shared with an ever-widening audience across the nation and around the globe.
Roots abroad
The alignment between mission and identity, past and future, has been a consistent theme in Mazumder’s life, which began amid the multicultural atmosphere of bustling London, where his parents – both medical doctors – had relocated from India due to his father’s career.
“My father came to England to be an apprentice in a hospital,” he stated. “My mother was finishing grad school at the time. My brother and I were both born and raised in the U.K.”
Long before he set foot in an American college classroom, Mazumder began honing the skills of critical thinking and community building within the halls of the highly traditional Queen Elizabeth’s Boys School, which he attended from ages 11 to 18.
“I still remember the date on the badge that adorned my uniform: 1573,”
he recalled, referencing the year of the school’s founding. “It was an academically strong school and very strict. We were expected to follow the rules a hundred percent of the time.”
He thrived in the formal atmosphere, where students stood as a show of respect every time a teacher entered or left a room, relating, “I was able to do well and build a good community there.”
Despite being the sons of two physicians, both he and his older brother found a passion for economics.
“I fell in love with the subject at age 14, when I took my first economics course in preparation for the GCSE, a national exam in the U.K., while my brother was studying economics simultaneously at college,” Mazumder shared. “The subject required a very analytical mindset that appealed to me. It allows you to think through academic knowledge and apply it to the real world.”
That initial interest would define his academic and professional life as he completed undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Cambridge. Learning from Nobel Prize winners and respected scholars who guided his growth as an academic and researcher, he flourished in the time-honored tutorial model emphasizing small-group interaction.
“We would attend lectures with a couple hundred people,” he detailed. “But then, we would go back and study the material with the professor and two or three classmates. You really get to share ideas and learn from the professor firsthand in that environment.”
While attending Cambridge, Mazumder deepened his understanding of international cultures and his appreciation for the interconnectedness of all people, first instilled as a boy growing up in London. Though he planned to continue his education in the United Kingdom – he already had been accepted to the prestigious London School of Economics – his father encouraged him to pursue graduate studies in the United States. That advice proved pivotal.
Mazumder relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, to study at Johns Hopkins University, where he would earn both master’s and doctoral degrees in economics. There, what was meant to be a temporary move opened new pathways the young scholar had not imagined.
Love and faith
During his time at Johns Hopkins, Mazumder met a young woman named Gretchen from nearby York, Pennsylvania, who would change the course of his life.
“We’ve been married for 16 years, and she’s been a blessing to me in numerous ways,” he expressed of his wife, a business administration graduate from York College with experience in project management and university development, who hails from a family of four.
Together with Gretchen, the newly minted Ph.D. relocated to North Carolina in 2009 to join the faculty of Wake Forest University, eventually rising through the academic ranks to become professor of economics.
The couple welcomed three children in those years – Olivia, Gabriel and Ethan – gaining an appreciation for family time in the process.
Mazumder and his sons took regular excursions to the mountains of North Carolina for trout fishing, an activity they hope to rekindle now that they are settled in Northwest Georgia. He and Gretchen relish cheering on their children whether they are playing pickup basketball in the driveway of the president’s home or competing in school sports such as track and field.
Movie nights are another regular occurrence, with a recent Harry Potter marathon preparing the family for their summer trip to the Scottish Highlands, where many scenes were filmed. Cooking together also headlines many weekends.
“I like to cook,” Mazumder revealed. “I don’t get as much time to do it as I would like, but Gretchen is an excellent cook, and the kids are pretty proficient in the kitchen. We love to pick a fun recipe to prepare together on the weekend, perhaps homemade ramen or hand-rolled pasta, even grilling nice steaks together.”
Regardless of recipe, one ingredient is a must.
“I always tell the kids you have to have jazz playing in the background,” Mazumder declared with a smile. “If jazz isn’t playing while you’re cooking, then it’s a disaster.”
Foundational to the family’s life together is a shared faith that for Mazumder traces to Gretchen’s invitation to join her at church early in their courtship.
“Growing up, I didn’t know one could have a personal relationship with God,” he observed. “But that all changed when I was introduced to Christianity. The God of the Bible is very much a relational God. That really spoke to me in a deep way and was very inviting to me. My Christian faith is a huge part of who I am now.”
While he values his own faith, Mazumder respects the beliefs of others and appreciates how Berry remains a welcoming place for all, noting that the values embedded in the college’s mission – service, integrity, compassion – “create a good and inviting culture to be in, regardless of one’s faith.”
Economist’s eye
Like his faith, Mazumder’s training as an economist is also deeply entwined in his leadership style and interactions with others.
A macroeconomist whose teaching interests extend to monetary economics, international monetary economics and time-series econometrics, he has conducted extensive research on inflation and its effects on economic stability, asking big questions about systems, trends and outcomes and tracing their impact in the real world. He has written more than 30 articles selected for publication in prestigious professional journals such as the Journal of Economic Literature and served for several years as an associate editor for the Journal of Macroeconomics.
“I’ve been an economist for so long, it’s hard to stop thinking like one,” he admitted. “Plus, I think there is more of a need for business- and economic-thinking in higher education, especially in the way we analyze problems and policies. Economics teaches you to consider trade-offs, marginal analysis, outcomes and long-term impact.”
That insight spurred his move from a purely teaching role into academic leadership – first as department chair at Wake Forest and then as dean at Baylor – enabling him to apply economic principles to decision-making conversations.
“Suppose a college is considering launching a new academic program,” he explained. “There needs to be an exploration not just about whether the major is good or bad, but of the marginal benefits of the addition versus the marginal costs in relation to programs already in existence. That’s the way an economist would think. Analyzing such effects and navigating carefully within a complex organization like a college are crucial.”
Berry focused
Mazumder marvels at how his life path and diverse experiences within higher education shaped his journey and prepared him to lead Berry forward.
“I very much believe in the idea of calling and vocation,” he emphasized. “God calls us to do certain things, and we all have different areas of life. He prepares us for these moments, giving us the experiences, know-how and people around us that equip us for the next steps. I think of me coming to Berry as something I’ve been called to do. It’s now my job to do so wisely.”
Though initially captivated by the story of Berry’s founding and early growth, Mazumder has developed an abiding appreciation for the campus, its people and the opportunities it provides for students today.
“The campus itself is so big and beautiful,” he enthused. “We can probably have some marketing fun with posters or t-shirts sporting statements like ‘27,000 acres.’ I might have stumped some cabinet members when I asked roughly how many trees there are on campus. That could be a fun student game to play. It’s a very, very large number, of course.
“But even more beautiful,” he continued, “is the family atmosphere that exists within this close-knit residential college. It’s going to give me a real opportunity to get to know our faculty, staff, students and alumni in a way that is hard to do at a much bigger institution. Add to that Berry’s emphasis on teaching the younger generation the importance of having a good work ethic and serving others, as well as the opportunities available through the LifeWorks Program – these are just a few examples of the uniqueness already in place.”
Citing other Berry hallmarks including intentional leadership development, mentorship, hands-on research, international experiences and good-neighbor culture, Mazumder added, “We want our students to be well-rounded so that when they come out of college they are ready to contribute to society in positive and meaningful ways.”
Come and see
Already, the Mazumders have become a familiar presence on campus, often seen walking their Weimaraner, Lady, and engaging in conversation with members of the Berry community. That personal connection is part of what drew them here.
“I’m a big-picture guy who thinks about the mission of the institution, considering what our goals are and how we will get there – all with a long-term mindset,” he explained. “But I also believe in being very mindful about the community of people we have. For that, we need to be micro-focused, to offer reasons for people to come together and build relationships around the table, as it were. That might literally take place over a meal or a cup of coffee or walking along one of the trails on this beautiful campus. I want us to think through ways to gather people together.”
While admitting with a good-natured laugh that this desire to include everyone has sometimes threatened to overwhelm dinner parties in his own home, Mazumder feels strongly that a collaborative spirit will fuel Berry’s continued success. As an example, he points to his own experience thus far.
“I’m really thankful for Steve Briggs, who has been a tremendous asset in getting me ready for this role,” he affirmed. “One phrase I’ve learned from him is Martha Berry’s encouragement to leave Berry more beautiful than when we found it. I hope to do that just as he did while realizing it’s never about one person. The whole team of faculty, staff, students, benefactors and alumni must come together to make a meaningful difference in the future
of Berry.
“I encourage our Berry family to come home frequently, whether for Mountain Day or to attend a sporting event such as football, basketball, volleyball or lacrosse, or to catch a play,” he added. “Come to campus. Mentor students. Provide case studies or datasets that our students can work with in the classrooms. Give financially to provide opportunities for students. There are many ways to be connected. And then hire our students when they graduate because, as you know, they are special.”
Now an integral part of the very story that captured his interest, Mazumder is ready to share Berry with an even wider audience so others can embrace its power and potential to shape lives for the better.
“Raising the national profile of the college is one of the main goals of my presidency,” he concluded. “Doing so will enable us to keep welcoming a broad range of students to our campus and will help us have a seat at the table when it comes to matters of national or international significance.
He continued, “The ingredients are already here for Berry to have a wonderful national, maybe international, profile. I want us to be bold and to be big; I want us to dream together and to not be shy. We need to keep telling the world, as Psalm 66:5 says, ‘Come and see what God has done; He is awesome in His deeds.’”
