Every year, thousands of MBA aspirants gear up for the Common Admission Test (CAT), India’s most competitive management entrance exam. This phase involves candidates focusing on preparation strategies and syllabus coverage, one critical factor often overlooked is the CAT Convenor—the person responsible for overseeing the exam’s design and execution.
CAT 2025 Convenor is announced—Professor Ram Kumar P. N., Professor of Quantitative Methods and Operations Management at IIM Kozhikode believes in—”Theory without application is useless, and application without theory is dangerous.” This qoute will sum up an idea of the mindset of the person behind CAT Convenor.
Read this detailed article to know the role of CAT Convenor and the convening IIM, how Prof. Ram Kumar as CAT Convenor can impact CAT exam.
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What is CAT Convenor?
CAT exam is conducted by one of the six IIMs i.e., IIM Ahemdabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, and IIM Indore by rotation. In the year 2024, IIM Calcutta conducted the CAT exam. This year IIM Kozhikode is conducting CAT 2025.
CAT Convenor is basically a senior IIM professor designated to co-ordinate the entire CAT exam which includes planning, execution, and administration. The CAT Convenor plays important role as he/she will be the face of the exam. As CAT 2025 Convenor, Prof. Ram Kumar will be responsible for following roles & responsibilities:
- Responsibility of Conducting Overall CAT Exam: Prof Ram Kumar shall be accountable for the integrity, transparency, and conduct of the exam. The Convenor is the academic and administrative head of the CAT exam.
- CAT Paper Design: CAT 2025 Convenor, Prof. Ram Kumar along with other committee members will finalize the structure of the CAT exam which includes number of questions, types of questions, exam pattern, marking scheme, and any changes if required.
- Co-ordination with Testing Partners: The CAT Convenor is responsible for supervising the exam administration and co-rodination with technical service provider TCS for smooth exam delivery in hundreds of cities.
- Ensuring Quality and Fairness: The CAT Convenor ensures that the exam must be conducted in secure manner across all the cities ensuring the overall quality and fairness of the exam.
- Score Normalization & Result Release: After the exam, the Convenor supervises the process of score calculation, normalization across sessions, and release of the results.
- Public Communication: The CAT Convenor becomes the face of the CAT exam for that year and will issue the press releases, updates on official website, etc.
For CAT aspirants, the CAT convenor play an important role in shaping their CAT exam experience. The decisions made by the Convenor affects the difficulty level of exam, scheduling, communication and other factors which gives a strong impact on aspirant’s mindset and preparation strategies.
Who is Prof. Ram Kumar P.N.?
Prof. Ram Kumar is a respected scholar in Operations Research and Logistics area and a Professor at IIM Kozhikode. His association with IIM Kozhikode began in 2010 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. He later joined IIM Kozhikode as Assistant Professor in 2012. He is an alumnus of IIT Madras (Ph.D.), PSG Tech Coimbatore (M.E. in Industrial Engineering), and JNTU Hyderabad (B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering). His research spans across areas like transportation networks, “military logistics”, AI in operations, and supply chain optimization. He has published extensively in top-tier international journals.
Prof. Ram Kumar has held key academic and administrative roles at IIMK including Chairperson of the Doctoral Programme (PhD) and Chairperson of International Relations. His domain expertise, and leadership experience, make him well qualified to lead as CAT 2025 Convenor.
What this means for CAT aspirants?
Prof. Ram Kumar’s appointment as CAT 2025 Convenor signals a data-driven approach to CAT 2025. Aspirants must know that:
- Expect logical, structured, and quantitative reasoning questions that test problem-solving abilities.
- The Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) section may include sets involving scheduling or operation research concepts.
- Quantitative Aptitude (QA) might emphasize analytical reasoning, number systems, and algebra with application-based problems.
- Take Mock Tests seriously, since the convenor designs the paper to test structured thinking, timed mocks help adapt to the exam style.
- Aspirants must stay updated with official CAT announcements for any last-minute pattern changes or any insights shared by Prof. Ram Kumar or IIM Kozhikode.
Read More about IIM Kozhikode:
Past CAT Convenors
Here is the list of CAT Convenors over the last decade.
| Exam Year | CAT Conducting IIM | CAT Convenor | Difficulty Level |
| CAT 2024 | IIM Calcutta | Prof. Ramya T. Venkateswaran | Moderate-Difficult |
| CAT 2023 | IIM Lucknow | Prof Sanjeet Singh Phogat | Moderate |
| CAT 2022 | IIM Bangalore | Dr Ashis Mishra | Tough |
| CAT 2021 | IIM Ahmedabad | Dr M P Ram Mohan | Toughest |
| CAT 2020 | IIM Indore | Dr Harshal Lowalekar | Moderate-Tough |
| CAT 2019 | IIM Kozhikode | Dr Shubhasis Dey | Moderate |
| CAT 2018 | IIM Calcutta | Dr Sumanta Basu | Difficult |
| CAT 2017 | IIM Lucknow | Dr Neeraj Dwivedi | Moderate |
| CAT 2016 | IIM Bangalore | Dr Rajendra K Bandi | Tough |
| CAT 2015 | IIM Ahemdabad | Dr Tathagat Bandyopadhyay | Moderate-Tough |
| CAT 2014 | IIM Indore | Dr Rohit Kapoor | Moderate |
CAT 2025: Important Dates
CAT 2025 exam date is November 30, 2025. Important dates for registration, admit cards and other events are given below:
| CAT Events | CAT Dates (Tentative) |
| CAT Notification Date | July 27, 2025 |
| CAT 2025 Registration Start Date | August 1, 2025 |
| CAT 2025 Registration End Date | September 20, 2025 |
| CAT Admit Card Release 2025 | November 6, 2025 |
| CAT Exam Date 2025 | November 30, 2025 |
| CAT Answer Key Release Date | December 3, 2025 |
| CAT Result Date | Decemebr 20, 2025 |
Understanding the role and background of the CAT 2025 Convenor, Prof. Ram Kumar P. N., can give an edge while CAT preparation with a tailored strategy towards the style of questions and the difficulty level of exam. With IIM Kozhikode’s Operations Research expert at the helm, expect a CAT that rewards logic, structured thinking, and strong fundamental.
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FAQs
The CAT 2025 CAT Convenor is Prof. Ram Kumar P.N., a faculty member in Operations and Quantitative Methods at IIM Kozhikode.
The exam structure remains mostly consistent but minor changes can be observed in section emphasis or types of question based on the Convenor’s academic background.
Yes, the Convenor and their academic team plays a crucial role in designing the question paper and its difficulty level.