Dr. Mahatapa Palit is the Chairperson of the Business Management Department at BMCC. She started her career in marketing research and went on to get a doctoral degree in business management focused on consumer behavior. Before joining BMCC in 2003, she spent four years with a technology startup as its marketing director. 

Prof. Palit’s research interests cover the marketing of the arts; entrepreneurship; and the role of community colleges in building career pathways for students. She is currently the Co-PI of a grant from the Kaufmann foundation that enables students to see themselves as researchers and scholars as they explore the entrepreneurial eco-system of their communities. In 2016, she co-managed a grant involving BMCC and CUNY students that explored the role of performing arts and humanities on education, community, and economy using student voices and experiences to study the development of a creative campus.