Alumni Leadership Awards for 2011
Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) USA Alumni Association Announces American Leadership Award Winners
The Dean of Harvard University Business School, the former Chief Executive of one of the world’s largest mobile phone companies, and the founder of a U.S. nonprofit organization devoted to ending blindness in India are among the recipients of the PAN IIT USA American Leadership Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements and accomplishments of IIT alumni who have made significant contributions to American society and throughout the world. The winners will be honored at a ceremony during IIT 2011.
More than 500 nominees were considered for these prestigious awards, which represent seven specific categories of achievement. The awards and their respective winners include:
• Academic Accomplishment, Dr. Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School
• Lifetime Achievement, Arun Sarin, former Chief Executive, Vodafone Group plc
• Social Entrepreneurship, K. Sridharan, President and Founder, Sankara Eye Foundation
• Technology Leadership, Dr. Arogyaswami Paulraj, Professor Emeritus Stanford University
• Entrepreneurial Achievement, Purnendu Chatterjee, President, The Chatterjee Group
• Corporate Excellence, Manoj Singh, COO, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
• Global PAN IIT Award, Arvind Kejriwal, Indian social activist.
“The American Leadership Award winners represent the best of IIT alumni in the U.S. with their diverse accomplishments and contributions to American job creation, education, and philanthropy,” said Gunjan Bagla, Founder and Managing Director of Amritt, Inc., President of PAN IIT USA and Chair of the awards committee. “These alumni embody the spirit of our upcoming conference by truly bringing solutions for a better world through their thought leadership, business acumen and sense of social responsibility. We are humbled and awed by their accomplishments.”
About the American Leadership Award Winners:
Dr. Nitin Nohria (Academic Accomplishment) became the 10th Dean of Harvard Business School in 2010. His intellectual interests center on human motivation, leadership, corporate transformation and accountability, and sustainable economic and human performance. He has co-authored/ co-edited 16 books and more than 50 journal articles, book chapters, cases, working papers and notes.
Arun Sarin (Lifetime Achievement) has worked in the telecommunications industry for the majority of his career and, most recently, was Chief Executive of Vodafone Group plc.
K. Sridharan (Social Entrepreneurship) is the President and Founder of the Sankara Eye Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit devoted to ending curable blindness for needy people in India. Founded in 1998, the organization currently operates eight hospitals in India with its partner, Sankara Eye Care Institutions.
Dr. Arogyaswami Paulraj (Technology Leadership) is Professor Emeritus, Stanford University’s Department of Electrical Engineering and the inventor of MIMO wireless communications, a technology breakthrough that enables improved wireless performance.
Dr. Purnendu Chatterjee (Entrepreneurial Achievement) is President of The Chatterjee Group, a New York based principal investment firm. In July 2011, Dr. Chatterjee was named Chairman of the Board of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.
Manoj Singh, (Corporate Excellence) COO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, has extensive management consulting experience in advising national and multinational companies on mergers and acquisitions and shareholder value growth with a specific focus on technology, manufacturing and the energy industry.
Arvind Kejriwal (Global PAN IIT) is an Indian social activist fighting for greater transparency in India’s government. One of India’s more notable social activists, he is a member of India Against Corruption (IAC) and is an active participant in the movement for the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill.