GEMs* members are alumni who support IIT Madras every month with small contributions.
137 GEMs
I am a GEM of an alum...I Give Every Month
We are happy to announce an exciting opportunity for alumni to contribute. All alumni are invited to sponsor Tuition Fees, Tuition and Hostel Fees, Airfare, and "Semester Abroad" to deserving students. In each case, if you like, we will link you up with the student beneficiary, so that you can also interact directly.
As the Golden Jubilee year draws to a close, several critical campus initiatives require continued contributions, monetary and otherwise, from alumni.
The 100 crore Golden Jubilee Alumni Fund will cover diverse projects such as the Sports Complex, a Travel Grant program, the Research Park, Named Chair Professorships, and research initiatives in Bio-Processing, Communication Networks and Nanotechnology.
A common remark heard from visiting alumni is "the campus looks even lovelier than in our time!"
The Center for Innovation (CFI), Sharavati - the new girls' hostel, the Center of Excellence for Optical Networks, the Senapathy Center for Computing Resources, the Himalaya giga-mess, the Robocon project, the departments of Biotech and DoMS - these are just a few of the examples of projects funded extensively by generous alumni in the past.
Message from the Director
Message from Dean, International & Alumni Relations, IIT Madras
It is my pleasure to address you in my current capacity as Dean, International & Alumni Relations, IIT Madras....
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Dr. Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande
On the nonprofit side Desh is on the Board of MIT, IIT-Madras Trust, TIE Board, TIE Foundation, Chinmaya Mission, Deshpande Foundation Sandbox, Akshaya Patra and the Public Health Foundation of India. Jaishree works with Desh on nonprofits and is also a Trustee of the Museum of Science and is supportive of their efforts. Deshpandes'generous donation has made possible MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. The Deshpande Center was created to serve as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting collaboration among entrepreneurs, young companies, MIT students, alumni and faculty. In India the Deshpande foundation has created a social entrepreneurship sandbox which incubates NGOs that have the potential to create a large impact. Akshaya Patra is one of the first experiments that is well on its way to becoming a success story. Akshaya Patra provide over one million hot midday meals to school children every day. Dr. Deshpande holds a B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras (1973) an M.E. in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, and a Ph.D. in Data Communications from Queens University in Canada. Jaishree Deshpande earned her MSc in Physics from IIT Madras (1975) and holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Boston University. Click here to view more Featured Donors |
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Mr. Girish Venkat Reddy
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Mr. Krishna 'Kittu' Kolluri
Formerly, Kittu was Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Security Products Group at Juniper Networks, a position he assumed following Juniper's acquisition of NetScreen Technologies. At NetScreen, he was General Manager of Secure Access Products, a position he assumed following NetScreen's acquisition of Neoteris, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Kittu brings more than 20 years of experience at the leading edge of the technology industry. He co-founded Healtheon/WebMD, introducing online healthcare to the market. As Senior Vice President and General Manager of Provider Services, Kittu was responsible for product development, operations and business development. Before co-founding Healtheon/WebMD, Kittu worked at Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) managing high profile Interactive TV projects. Kittu holds a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, and a M.S. in Operations Research from the State University of New York, Buffalo. Kittu was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Madras in 2005, and by SUNY, Buffalo in 2007. Kittu is an avid interest in golf, music, and photography. Kittu may be followed at http://www.twitter.com/kittukolluri Click here to view more Featured Donors |
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Mr. Raju Venkatraman
Mr. Raju was named Indian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000, and is a recognized expert and speaker in the field of business process outsourcing. He is a chemical engineering graduate from IIT Madras and holds an executive MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. Mr. Raju joined the Board of Polaris on 30th December 2005 and is a Member of the Shareholders' Committee of the Company also. He is also a Director in Rev IT Systems Pvt. Ltd., Vetri Info Data Pvt. Ltd., Vetri Info Data LLC and Sherpa Business Solutions Inc. Click here to view more Featured Donors |
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Mr. Sunil Wadhwani
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Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan
On June 22, 2007, Kris took over from Nandan M. Nilekani as the CEO and Managing Director of Infosys Technologies Limited. Kris previously served as Chief Operating Officer (since April 2002), and as the President and Joint Managing Director (since August 2006). His responsibilities included customer services, technology, investments and acquisitions. Kris' initial responsibilities at Infosys included management of design, development, implementation and support of information systems for clients in the consumer products industry in the U.S. Between 1987 and 1994, he headed the technical operations of KSA/Infosys (a joint venture between Infosys and KSA at Atlanta, U.S.) as Vice President (Technical). In 1994, Kris returned to India and was appointed Deputy Managing Director of the company. Kris is currently the Chairman of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), Kerala, and Vice Chairman of the Board for Information Technology Education Standards (BITES) set up by the Government of Karnataka. Kris is the Vice Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) Southern Regional Council. He is also a member of ACM, IEEE and IEEE Computer Society. Kris holds a master's degree in Physics (1977) and Computer Science (1979) from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Click here to view more Featured Donors |
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Mr. Satish Shenoy It is kind of you to consider me for this honor but I think there are many more deserving alumni out there who have in fact given much more to the Institute. I recall starting this monthly small amount donation when as a group the batch of 1980 celebrated 25 years after passing out. The Dean was from our batch and the Institute did an excellent job of hosting us as well as arranging for our food and entertainment during the two day meet. Vijay Ullal from our batch I remember donated half a million dollars worth of equipment to the Institute. I was keen to do my little bit but did not have the financial means to donate large sums. I hit upon the idea of donating Rs 2000 per month for the rest of my earning career - that is as long as I was able to do so without severely impacting my ability to put food on the table. By God's grace I had the good fortune to be trained by IIT Madras and that one degree ensured that my career was more or less taken care of - though the thought struck late - after 25 years - I still felt giving back to the Institute in the form of an annuity was indicated. I believe the responsibility of creating infrastructure should rest always with the Institute utilizing funds that it has access to from the Government. Alumni can support where they believe it is necessary to do so for creating infrastructure or where the desire is to be "known" as having given with a suitable placard etc. However, more importantly, alumni should come forward to support expenditure such as ensuring research that the faculty wants to do. Every academic has at least a couple of 'pet' projects that he would have loved to explore in detail but is frustrated by lack of funding in the budget - the well known case of 3M and their 10% budget for "moonlighting" in research gave the "Post It" pad to the world and many other innovations. Alumni can enable funding for ensuring that faculty is given the chance to expose themselves to what others are doing across the world through visits and trips to academic conferences etc. In most organizations these areas are relegated class "C" or "D" importance in budgeting and are in fact the first areas that get chopped during a crunch. Any expenditure that is in the nature of an investment for the future should come under the lens of alumni giving. My intention of giving monthly a small sum is in fact to support such non infrastructural spending. Quality of our faculty and their work is the only yardstick that we should use to measure the health of the Institute's long term plans. It is the mainstay supporting the image of the Institute as it is perceived by the world and will ensure that the faculty pool never dries up - which faculty would not like the chance to work in such an Institute? This should have priority A for funding in my opinion. Click here to view more Featured Donors |
Message from the DirectorDear alumnus/ alumna,
Our student intake continues to grow, and recently underwent a spurt as we implemented the Government's reservation scheme for OBC candidates, Compared to the baseline of 2007, there will be about 50% more UG students on campus by 2010. Since we do not wish to change the PG:UG ratio and thereby the research focus of our institute, we will in due course have 55% more PG students as well. We are in the process of recruiting additional faculty to maintain a comfortable student-to-faculty ratio. We are making necessary infrastructural improvements to the campus to accommodate the increased headcount. We are also mentoring the newly-started IIT Hyderabad. These activities are fully funded by the Government of India through the Ministry of Human Resources and Development. Yet, there is a definite need for alumni contributions, which, unlike Government funding that mostly goes towards setting up of basic infrastructure and facilities, can be directed to specific projects of importance to the Institute and to alumni.
These are notable, and laudable, outcomes from directed alumni funding. Now, in this Golden Jubilee year, we have identified seven more funding opportunities for alumni, with a total targeted amount of Rs. 100 crores. These are:
These are identified needs, driven by our passion to serve our student and faculty community to the best of our ability. As we complete our half-century of excellence, it is a wonderful time for alumni to get involved in shaping the future of IITM. We have never rested on our laurels. With your support, we will continue our evolution to be among the world's best educational institutions. Please visit the IIT Madras website http://www.iitm.ac.in/ to learn more about daily happenings on campus. Do follow the link to alumni services http://alumni.iitm.ac.in/ to learn about our offerings for the alumni community. And finally, follow the link to the Golden Jubilee Alumni Fund website http://gjfund.iitm.ac.in/ to make your financial contributions. Join us as we journey forth into a glorious second half-century of service to the nation. Sincerely, |
Message from Kris and DeshDear Fellow IITMer,
That special campus of our past completes 50 years on July 31 this year. Fifty years, 30000 graduates, and counting! A lot has happened and continues to happen on the campus over the years. Several of us alumni are involved in these happenings. A few have given back by returning to teach at IITM, some have got involved in supporting a range of IITM academic activities, and yet others have contributed to the growth of the institute's facilities and capabilities.
As this Golden Jubilee year comes to an end, our alma mater is recommitting itself to continued professional excellence for generations more to come. We need to work together as its alumni to strengthen its hands in whatever way each one of us can. The Golden Jubilee Alumni Fund is an important foundation stone for the IITM of the future. A foundation stone that you can help put in place. Join us in any way you can to make the Golden Jubilee Alumni Fund initiative a success that we can all be proud of! Sincerely, |
Message from Dean, International & Alumni Relations, IIT MadrasDear Alumnus/ Alumna,
My vision for I & AR is to "enhance the global stature & impact of IIT Madras by leveraging alumni & international relations". Our mission is to:
The strategic objectives we have defined on the international-relations front are:
On the alumni-relations side, the following are our strategic imperatives:
I request your strong and sustained support as we embark on our mission. There are numerous opportunities for giving back to the Institute, both financial and otherwise. We'll be happy to entertain your ideas on both fronts. Individually, most of us have succeeded in a spectacular fashion. Collectively, let us make our alma mater a global destination, "THE place to go and grow". Sincerely, |
Dr. Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande, the founder and Chairman of Sycamore Networks is an influential technology entrepreneur and a visionary whose companies and ideas often reshape entire industries. After attaining superstar status in the world of entrepreneurship, Desh, along with his wife Jaishree has turned his attention to philanthropy and social entrepreneurship to help both US and India. In addition to Sycamore, Desh is also involved in six other companies including Tejas, Airvana, A123 Systems, HiveFire, and Sandstone Capital.
Mr. Girish Venkat Reddy is the Chief Executive Officer, Managing Partner, Founding Partner, and Director at Prisma Capital Partners LP. He was previously Head of the Goldman Sachs's Equity Derivatives Division. Mr. Reddy first joined Goldman Sachs in 1990. Over his 12 year career at the firm, he was instrumental in building a successful derivatives team that was named Equity Derivatives House of the Year in 2000 by RISK magazine. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Reddy was the Chief Investment Officer of LOR Associates, a hedging and strategy advisory firm based in Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining LOR Associates, he worked for five years as Director of portfolio construction and asset allocation at Travelers Investment Management Company. Mr. Reddy qualifies as an independent Director under the newly amended Nasdaq listing standards. Mr. Reddy has been Director of Barra Inc. since November 2003. Mr. Reddy has published various research papers and is a frequent speaker at industry forums on the use of derivatives in traditional asset management. He has also served on the Boards of many charitable institutions including the Indian School of Business and the Indian American Policy Institute. Mr. Reddy received his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Electrical Engineering (1977). He also earned a Masters in Engineering and an M.B.A. from Cornell University.
Kittu joined NEA in 2006 as a General Partner and focuses on information technology and renewable energy investments, across stage and with special emphasis on U.S. and India. He is co-head of NEA's Consumer and India practices. Present NEA board memberships include OANDA, IndoUS Ventures, Novatium, Plusmo, RingCube Technologies, Teracent, Vuclip and WeatherBill. Prior NEA board memberships include PortAuthority (NASDAQ: WBSN) and SnapTell (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Mr. Raju Venkatraman is presently the Managing Director & CEO of MEDall Medical Services. Till recently, he was the Joint Managing Director at Firstsource Solutions Limited. Raju's career in technology outsourcing began with EDS. In EDS, Raju spearheaded the applications outsourcing business (now called BPO) in a variety of verticals including Healthcare, Manufacturing and Federal Government. Raju left a successful career at EDS in 1991 and became a pioneer in outsourcing by launching Vetri Systems, an off-shore outsourcing company. Scaling his original company to nearly 4,000 employees/contractors, he sold it to Lason, incorporated in 1998. He served as the President, Data Management Services at Lason and was responsible for more than 7,500 employees and US$ 85 million in revenue. In early 2002, he resigned from Lason and launched Sherpa.
Sunil Wadhwani, age 56, served as Chief Executive Officer of iGate Corporation, Fremont, CA, from October 1996 until his resignation, effective April 1, 2008, and has served as a director since 1986. Mr. Wadhwani has served as Co-Chairman since October 1996. He was re-elected by the shareholders in 2008 to serve a three-year term expiring in 2011. He is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of Mastech Holdings, Inc. From 1986 through September 1996, Mr. Wadhwani served as Chairman of the Company and held several other offices, including Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Wadhwani has a Master's degree in Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (1974) from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Gopalakrishnan (Kris to his colleagues) is one of the founders of Infosys Technologies Limited. As Chief Executive Officer, he plays a key role in defining the company strategy and using technology and innovation continuously to maintain its leadership in the industry.
