In his current position as Managing Director at the University of Pennsylvania, Anish is responsible for the overall direction and oversight of all activities at Pennovation Works. Pennovation Works is a 23-acre innovation campus comprised of a unique blend of lab, office and production space developed and owned by the University adjacent to its academic and medical campus in West Philadelphia. In this role, Anish is tasked with implementation of the long-range strategic master plan. He leads business development of the campus, including marketing, communications, and leasing. He manages the strategic direction of the Pennovation Center (the community’s business, technology and laboratory incubator) in collaboration with the operating partner, 1776. Anish also collaborates with Penn Center for Innovation (PCI), PCIVentures, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research on company curation and programming. In addition, Anish monitors development, design, construction and operations of the campus as well as operation of the JPod @ Philadelphia (a partnership with Johnson & Johnson).
Prior to joining Penn, Anish served as Senior Director and head of Amtrak’s corporate Real Estate Development Department. In that role, he led an 18-person team and oversaw all real estate activities in support of Amtrak’s operations nationwide, including planning and portfolio strategy, business development, acquisition disposition and lease transactions, administration of property agreements, development and fit-out of facilities, space management, budgeting and real estate financial operations.
Before Amtrak, Anish held leadership positions at major planning and architectural firms, including tvsdesign, Hillier, WRT, and Architects’ Combine. In this role, Anish led a wide range of transformative urban projects in communities throughout the United States and overseas, including China, India, Chile, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Dubai.
Anish has devoted his career to improving urban life — enabling people to live and work together in the most inclusive and environmentally sustainable ways. Anish’s strength as a conceptual designer enables him to translate his clients’ goals into practical strategies and ambitious designs for the integrated development of buildings, infrastructure, and open space.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Ahmedabad School of Architecture, Anish also served as an adjunct professor on the Faculty of Drexel University from 1996 to 2006. He has presented extensively at professional conferences and maintains a research interest in the historical and ongoing transformation of urban form.