September 23, 2004
Purdue University president to visit Indian alumni, parents
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The president of Purdue University will visit India Oct. 28 to Nov. 3 to reconnect with alumni and friends of the university and to meet with parents of current Purdue students.
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This is the first time that a Purdue president has traveled to India. Purdue has the largest number of international students (4,921) of any public university in the United States. Purdue's students come from nearly 130 countries around the globe, and the largest number of those students – 995 this fall – come from India. Scores of Purdue faculty and staff also are Indian-born.
"Our Indian students, alumni and faculty are leaders on the world stage," said Martin C. Jischke, who became Purdue's president in 2000. "I am looking forward very eagerly to this opportunity to reach out and thank the people of India for sending us its students and to look for ways we can expand our relationship."
As Jischke prepares for his visit, the university is looking for parents and alumni to let them know about the opportunity to meet the president. He will spend two days and nights in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi, with 7:30 p.m. receptions in each of these cities on Oct. 29, Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, respectively.
Purdue alumni from India include:
• G.V. Prasad – executive vice chairman and CEO of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. He earned his master's degree in industrial administration from Purdue's Krannert School of Management in 1983. (The degree is the equivalent of today's master of business administration, known as an MBA).
• C.N.R. Rao – honorary president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He earned his doctorate from Purdue's School of Science in 1958 and received an honorary doctorate from Purdue in 1982. Rao has been awarded honorary degrees from 26 universities around the world and is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences in the United States and the Royal Society of London.
• Satish Reddy – managing director and COO of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. He earned his master's degree from the School of Pharmacy 1991.
• Sowmyanarayanan Sadagopan – director of the Indian Institute of Information Technology/Bangalore. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Purdue's School of Industrial Engineering in 1977 and 1979, respectively.
• Pooja Shetty – director at Adlabs Films Ltd. She earned her bachelor's degree from Purdue's Krannert School of Management in 2000.
• Venu Srinivasan – CEO of TVS Motor Co. He earned an MBA from the Krannert School of Management in 1977. Srinivasan was named a "Star of Asia" by Business Week International in 2003.
• Ravi Venkatesan – chairman of Microsoft/India. He earned an MBA from the Krannert School of Management in 1986. Venkatesan was awarded Purdue's Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award in 2000 and was named by Business Today as one of India's 25 top young executives in 2002.
Purdue is one of the largest universities in the United States, with more than 69,000 students. With its main campus in America's Midwest at West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue also has 11 statewide locations. It's alumni include 22 astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, and Eugene Cernan, the last man to do so.
Its schools for engineering, business, science, pharmacy and agriculture rank among the best in the United States and in the world.
For example, The Wall Street Journal this September ranked Purdue's Krannert School of Management first in the United States in its category. U.S. News and World Report this year ranked Purdue's College of Engineering as eighth in the nation. The Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education in December 2002 named Purdue's Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management first in the United States. More deans of U.S. pharmacy schools are alumni of Purdue than any other university.
Purdue alumni and parents of current Purdue students are welcome to attend the receptions being scheduled in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. To register for these events go online.
Writer: Jeanne V. Norberg: (765) 494-2084; jnorberg@purdue.edu
Sources: Michael Stitsworth, director of advancement, Purdue College of Engineering, who is staffing the visit: mstitsworth@purdue.edu
Related Web sites:
Purdue University Home Page
Purdue President Martin C. Jischke
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