Dinesh Keskar to lead Boeing India

Indian American Dinesh Keskar has been appointed by the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft, Boeing Company, to lead Boeing India from March.

The Boeing named Ian Thomas president of Boeing Australia and South Pacific, and Dinesh Keskar vice-president of Boeing International and president of Boeing India.

Keskar, 54, originally from Rajkot, India, will represent the entire enterprise and be responsible for leading Boeing-wide efforts focused on expanding the company's local presence and pursuing new growth and productivity initiatives.

Prior to this appointment, Keskar served as Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice-president of Sales for South and Southeast Asia, and was responsible for overseeing all activities for that business within the region. "Dinesh has a proven track record for sales and market development in India," said Shephard Hill, president of Boeing International.

"He is a well known and recognized expert in India's aerospace community. Dinesh has the experience, market knowledge and expertise to further enhance our partnership and collaboration with India," Hill said. 

In June 1999, Keskar was honoured with the 'Distinguished Alumni Award' by the University of Cincinnati for 'meritorious achievement, recognised stature, and conspicuous success in the imaginative blending of engineering education with highly
productive endeavors in industry'.

Keskar received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from India with a Gold Medal in 1975. He received his master's and doctorate degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1976 and 1978, respectively.

Further, he received his master's of business administration from City University in Seattle in 1987 and was a recipient of the president's honor roll.

In 1994, he attended the Berkeley Executive Program at the University of California,
Berkley. Thomas, who was formerly president of Boeing India, succeeds Craig Saddler, who will be moving to a new position with Boeing in the United States.

Thomas will be responsible for government affairs in Australia and will co-ordinate all Boeing activities in Australia and across the South Pacific region.

Prior to serving as president of Boeing India, he led Boeing Integrated Defense Systems business development efforts in Europe. "Ian's experiences in the United Kingdom and India make him ideally suited to lead our company in Australia," said Hill.