IIMA announces five new chairs, three scholarships

Ahmedabad

IIM Ahmedabad today announced five new chaired professor positions and three students scholarships.

“We are delighted to announce five new chaired professor positions and three student scholarships. An anonymous contribution has been made by an alumnus in support of Admissions process and entrepreneurship among students. Alumni contributions will help upgrade the Child Care Centre to modern standards,” said professor Ashish Nanda, Director of IIMA.

“We are also delighted to partner with the Infosys Foundation, for Chair of Societal Development; Edelweiss, through establishing Edelweiss Term Chair in Finance; PwC, for establishing PwC Chair of Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance; UTI, for a term chair in Macro Economics; and Kasturbhai Lalbhai for the Chair in Management Development,” he further said.

“I am also thankful to Ajay and Ritu Banga for their contribution towards PGP scholarships. I am also pleased to announce Shapoorji Pallonji’s contribution towards PGPX scholarships. Contributions from the 1986 PGP batch and other alumni, including the 2014 PGP batch and several of our women alumni will help upgrade the IIMA Child Care Centre,” he added.

Infosys Chair of Societal Development

Speaking about the institution of the chair at IIMA, Mrs. Sudha Murty, Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation said, “With over 65% of the Indian population living in rural areas, development in these regions will play a significant role in influencing the economic growth of the country. Through the establishment of the Infosys Chair of Societal Development, we aim to provide the much-needed impetus to researchers of IIM-A to formulate policies, regulations, technology interventions and programs for Rural Development. The Chair intends to support studies that will lead to the creation of gainful employment, better housing and sanitation, non-conventional methods to alleviate poverty, and inclusive growth of population across the pyramid.”

Edelweiss Term Chair in Finance

“Today’s complex world of finance is ever-changing, highly inter-connected, with interlinkages across business, government and society,” said Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group. “There is a clear need for collaboration between industry and academia in order to develop new thought, new ways of looking at things and to ably spot, understand and smartly navigate the emerging winds of change. Having experienced firsthand the thought leadership that IIMA provides, led to the decision to endow the Edelweiss Chair of Finance. The chair aims to support faculty for research around higher levels of learning in the areas of finance, markets and economy.”

UTI term Chair in Macro Economics

UTI AMC is committed in contributing to the growth of the Indian financial markets and promoting education and research in the area of capital markets. As part of this endeavor, UTI AMC has collaborated with one of India’s most renowned Institutions, the Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad (IIM-A), to establish the UTI Chair in Macro Economics. “India will play a significant role in shaping the Global Economy, going forward,” said Mr. Leo Puri, Managing Director, UTI AMC. “Top quality Educational and Financial Institutions will have an important role in this journey. This collaboration between UTI AMC and IIM-A to start the UTI Chair in Macro Economics is an important step in that direction. The valuable insights generated will benefit all stakeholders in the years to come.”

PwC Chair in Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance

Deepak Kapoor, Chairman, PwC India said: “Policy makers and regulators around the world are focussed on changes to financial reporting and corporate governance frameworks and regulations to improve transparency and accountability and thus capital flows. We believe that collaboration among businesses, regulators, other stakeholders and academia is critical in achieving these objectives. We are delighted to establish the PwC Chair of Financial Reporting and Governance at IIMA to support excellence in research and teaching in this area.”

Shapoorji Pallonji Rising Star Award for Academic Excellence

Vasant Sanzgiri, Group Head, HR, Shapoorji Pallonji, said: “Executive Management programs bring out the best in experienced people. We congratulate IIMA for their pioneering effort in the executive education arena – the PGPX course in its 10th year has been building the talent pipeline for industry at large. We, at Shapoorji Pallonji, believe that experienced executives bring in value from day one and can be assimilated into varied environments with relative ease. Programs such as the PGPX play an important role in making this happen. The program proves that academic excellence and managerial excellence can complement each other at different stages in one’s career. Shapoorji Pallonji is happy to partner with IIMA to institute the debutant award for academic excellence in the PGPX batch. The award is presented to the topper of the PGPX batch at the time of the convocation.”

IIMA Child Care Centre

On the contribution towards the Child Care Centre, 1986 PGP Batch Representative Kalpen Shukla said: “Children are the most precious asset on the planet. They deserve undiluted Attention and Care, not only from the parents and family members, but also from the caretakers and the environment that they live in. At IIMA, we wish to offer facilities to the children where they would love to spend their time. More so, when their parents are busy taking care of their professional and other responsibilities. IIMA Childcare Centre aims to provide a safe and homely environment to the children of the working faculty and staff members. The Batch of 1986, is pleased to join others to contribute towards the upgradation, upkeep, and maintenance of Childcare Centre at IIMA. The batch believes that support to this centre is the best way to commemorate our departed friends, dorm-mates and class-mates. Our contribution is made in memory of Jalaj Malhotra, N Chandrasekhar, W S Gopalakrishnan, M G Arun and B Ravi Rao.”

Anita Bhogle, PGP 1985 Batch, said: “Child care support is an issue I feel very strongly about having gone through it myself. People with young families often make career decisions based on the facilities available to children at the new location. Good quality child care support like the IIMA Child Care Centre, which is being upgraded with our contribution, will help attract and support talented young faculty and researchers, particularly women to our campus. It is an excellent move.”

Sonal Priyanka, PGP 1998 Batch, said: “The revamped IIMA Child Care Centre is an important initiative undertaken by the institute to promote youth and diversity in their faculty recruitments. It will go a long way in attracting young and women faculty members to the institute to address evolving needs of a growing student body. It will also give greater opportunity to qualified women faculty to participate in and contribute to one of the best Indian institutes of higher education and learning.”

– DeshGujarat