ALUMNI NEWSMAKERS

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

government on Monday appointed Finance Secretary Duvvuri Subbarao as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will succeed Dr Y V Reddy, whose term ends on September 5. "The government has decided to appoint D Subbarao as the next governor of RBI," finance minister P Chidambaram told reporters. Mr Subbarao would be appointed for a three-year period. He may, however, be considered for reappointment for another two years, as the RBI Act provides for appointment of a governor for a period of up to five years. Duvvuri Subbarao also takes over as the 22nd RBI governor at a critical time when there are a lot of headwinds ahead. The macro-economic situation is challenging with the slowing down of growth and inflation worries. He will have to get into action straightaway with the next policy review in October. Mr Subbarao, in contrast, is reckoned to be less hesitant on some key structural changes proposed for the central bank, making monetary policy its sole focus, divesting other functions such as public debt management and supervision of the banking system. Mr Subbarao studied physics at IIT and was one of the first IIT products to join the civil services. Subsequent to joining the IAS, he did his MS in economics from the Ohio State University (1978) and was a Humphrey Fellow at MIT during 1982-83. He also has a PhD in economics.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Rajendra K. Bordia (BT/ME/79), University of Washington Professor of Materials science and engineering, has been awarded a Humboldt Research Award for Senior Scientists by Germany’s Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This international honor, and one of the most prestigious awards given by Germany, recognizes Bordia’s career accomplishments in Materials Science and Engineering and will fund Bordia’s research. on composite particles and multilayered systems of semi-conducting oxides. Bordia also received the Marsha Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award from the University of Washington. He did his graduate studies at the Cornell University and spent more than five years as a research scientist at DuPont before arriving at the UW in 1991.

Monday, August 18, 2008
	Anand Kumar, (MT/ME/71) retired on 31 July 2007 as Scientist G from CSIR, Centre for Mathematical Modeling and Computer Simulation (C-MMACS) Bangalore. He joined NAL as Scientist B in 1971.

Friday, February 15, 2008

R K Misra journeys from village to Lead India It was a journey that began 42 years ago in Sonari, a small, impoverished village in UP's Sitapur district. The stage shifted to IIT Kanpur, then Tokyo University. A series of start-ups followed, with a stint in the US thrown in. But on Saturday night, life came full circle for R K Misra. As he outlined a plan to set up a cooperative dairy farm to transform life in the village where he was born, the jury and audience was visibly moved. After 10 rounds of challenging tasks and the scrutiny of hawk-eyed judges, it proved to be the decisive moment, helping Misra emerge winner of the Lead India contest. The man who never hesitates to speak his mind has often said that he believes he could be prime minister of India within 18 years. He has now taken a huge stride forward towards his ambitious goal. On Saturday, Misra showed just why he been a successful entrepreneur. Asked how he would utilize the prize money of Rs 50 lakh if he won, he rattled off a well thought-out plan with time-bound targets and actionable goals. Wasn't he thinking small by focusing on just a dairy farm, asked permanent jury member Kiran Bedi. "I believe in leading by example. This farm will not only provide sustainable employment but also serve as a role model for other villages. The biggest problem in India is ineffective implementation. There is a lot of talk, but little action. That is why my motto is 'work more, talk less'," said Misra to a round of thunderous applause. Questions from the other judges followed. As a person born in UP, who is now settled in Bangalore, what did he feel about protests against migrants, asked India's solicitor-general Goolam E Vahanvati. "I don't think most citizens support such protests. They are carried out by a handful of people with vested interests. Treat them as a law and order problem, crack down on them, and the problem will vanish," responded Misra. When former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh asked him how he would ensure an efficient service delivery mechanism to rural areas, Misra mentioned his efforts to improve Bangalore's roads through public-private partnership. He suggested making panchayats aware of the Right to Information Act. He also paid tribute to another special judge, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, saying, "I am a huge fan of his".

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Padma Vibhushan for N R Narayana Murthy Born into a Kannada Madhva Brahmin family in Mysore, India on August 20, 1946, Murthy graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, University of Mysore in 1967 after attending government school, and received his master's degree from IIT Kanpur in 1969. His first position was at IIM Ahmedabad as chief systems programmer [2] where he worked on a time-sharing system and designed and implemented a BASIC interpreter for ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited). After IIM Ahmedabad, he then joined Patni Computer Systems in Pune. Before moving to Mumbai, Murthy met his wife Sudha Murthy in Pune who at the time was an engineer working at Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd. (Telco, now known as Tata Motors) in Pune. In 1981, he founded Infosys with six other software professionals. He served as president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, India from 1992 to 1994. Murthy served as the founder CEO of Infosys for twenty years, and was succeeded by co-founder Nandan Nilekani in March 2002. He is the chairman of the governing body of the International Institute of Information Technology - Bangalore, and was the Chairman of the Governing Body of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of INSEAD, Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Cornell University Board of Trustees, Business Advisory Council of Great Lakes Institute of Management - Chennai,Singapore Management University Board of Trustees and the Board of Advisors for the William F. Achtmeyer Center for Global Leadership at the Tuck School of Business. Mr. Murthy also sits on the Board of Governors of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), a graduate school of business located in the Philippines and is also the Chairman of the Board of Members of School of Management[3], Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) located in Bangkok, Thailand. He is also a member of the Advisory Boards and Councils of various well-known universities – such as the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Corporate Governance initiative at the Harvard Business School, Yale University and the University of Tokyo’s President's Council. Murthy serves as an independent director on the board of the DBS Bank of Singapore. This is the largest government-owned bank in Singapore. He also serves as a director on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India, as the co-chairman of the Indo-British Partnership, as a member of the Prime Minister's council on trade and industry, as a member of the Asia Advisory Board of British Telecommunications plc. and as a member of the Board of NDTV, India. He also serves as an independent director on the board of the European FMCG giantUnilever. He is an IT advisor to several Asian countries. He retired from his executive position at Infosys on 20th August, 2006. However, he continues as the Non-Executive Chairman of the board. Murthy has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors.In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, a second highest civilian award by India and Légion d'honneur highest civilan award by France. In 2000, he was awarded the Padma Shri, a civilian award by the Government of India. He was the first recipient of the Indo-French Forum Medal (in the year 2003), awarded by the Indo-French Forum, in recognition of his role in promoting Indo-French ties. He was voted the World Entrepreneur of the Year - 2003 by Ernst & Young. He was one of the two people named as Asia's Businessmen of the Year for 2003 by Fortune magazine. In 2001, he was named by TIME / CNN as one of the twenty-five, most influential global executives, a group selected for their lasting influence in creating new industries and reshaping markets. He was awarded the Max Schmidheiny Liberty 2001 prize ( Switzerland), in recognition of his promotion of individual responsibility and liberty. In 1999, BusinessWeek named him one of the nine entrepreneurs of the year and he was also featured in the BusinessWeek's 'The Stars of Asia' (for three successive years - 1998, 1999 and 2000). In 1998, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, one of the premier institutes of higher learning in India, conferred on him the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and in 1996-97, he was awarded the JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award. In December 2005, Narayana Murthy was voted as the 7th most admired CEO/Chairman in the world in a global study conducted by Burson-Marsteller with the Economist Intelligence Unit [4]. The list included 14 others with distinguished names such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. In May 2006, Narayana Murthy has, for the fifth year running, emerged the most admired business leader of India in a study conducted by Brand-comm, a leading Brand Consulting, Advertising and PR firm. The Economist ranked him 8th among the top 15 most admired global leaders (2005). He was ranked 28th among the world's most-respected business leaders by the Financial Times (2005). He topped the Economic Times Corporate Dossier list of India's most powerful CEOs for two consecutive years – 2004 and 2005. TIME magazine’s “Global Tech Influentials” list (August 2004) named Mr. Murthy as one of the ten leaders who are helping shape the future of technology. In November 2006, TIME magazine again voted him as one of the Asian heroes who have brought about revolutionary changes in Asia in the last 60 years. The list featured people who have had a significant impact on Asian history over the past 60 years and it included others such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, etc. He was the first recipient of the Indo-French Forum Medal (2003), awarded by the Indo-French Forum in recognition of his role in promoting Indo-French ties. He was voted the World Entrepreneur of the Year – 2003 by Ernst and Young. He was one of two people named as Asia's Businessmen of the Year for 2003 by Fortune magazine. In 2001, he was named by TIME/CNN as one of the 25 most influential global executives, selected for their lasting influence in creating new industries and reshaping markets. He was awarded the Max Schmidheiny Liberty 2001 prize (Switzerland), in recognition of his promotion of individual responsibility and liberty. In 1999, BusinessWeek named him one of their nine Entrepreneurs of the Year, and he was featured in BusinessWeek's 'The Stars of Asia' for three successive years – 1998, 1999 and 2000. He was recently awarded the Commander of the British Order (CBE) by the British government. He is known to lead an unpretentious lifestyle in his modest residence in Bangalore along with wife Sudha Murthy and has a reputation for being a calm, self-effacing, soft-spoken person and caring father like figure for the employees of Infosys, shunning pricey suits, and avoiding a high-flying lifestyle (he is known to fly economy class). By his ‘simple living high thinking’ phenomenon, he has become the most admired business leader among the business schools in India.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Shardul Agrawala is one of the drafting authors of the reports of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which was awarded the Nobel Prize last week. Shardul is currently with the Environment Directorate of OECD, based out of Paris. He's also an alumnus of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton. With an interest in both economics and environmental issues, Shardul Agrawala enrolled in the School's Field IV program along with the newly created Certificate in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP). He noted that the programs were a natural fit for him, having his roots in engineering as well as an interest in the economics of environmental issues. Says Shardul, “STEP subsequently became a core cluster for the WWS doctoral program, and I was the first person from this cluster to receive a Ph.D. The STEP coursework I took as part of my M.P.A. degree really played a critical role in helping me converge on the issues I have worked on since. “STEP courses have had a direct bearing on my career. Among the STEP faculty, I owe a special debt of gratitude to Frank von Hippel, who served as mentor during my second year in the M.P.A. program, and subsequently became my Ph.D. advisor. I really learned a lot from his emphasis on rigor in analysis, his modesty, and his lifelong commitment to science in the public interest. “WWS has been my most memorable educational experience—I found it as intellectually rich as it is diverse, within a generous, flexible system, and with more than a few truly exceptional individuals.”

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Vishwanath "Vish" Prasad, executive dean and distinguished professor in the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University in Miami, has joined University of North Texas as Vice President for Research. A recognized scholar and researcher who is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Prasad brings a demonstrated ability to lead a vibrant research program to UNT, a student-centered public research university and Texas' fourth largest with more than 34,000 students. "We have a bold vision for our future research agenda," says President Gretchen M. Bataille. "Dr. Prasad's experience in securing funding for research programs and developing partnerships with industry, and his commitment to attracting a diverse student population into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, make him an excellent fit for UNT. Our faculty members are engaged in research and creative activities that make a difference for our communities. With strong leadership, that foundation will grow and we will be able to make a bigger impact on our state, nation and globe." As chief research officer, Prasad will promote UNT's mission in research, original scholarship and artistic creativity by developing and implementing a campus-wide strategic and operational plan to support these efforts. He also will provide the executive and administrative leadership for further development of the Research Park, home to UNT's College of Engineering, the newly created interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Research and Technology, and other research centers and institutes.