Bengaluru: “Today, we have 598 students graduating – 20 from the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), 18 from the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM), 75 from the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM), 4 from the Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM), 70 from the one-year full-time Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) and 411 from the two-year full-time Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP),” announced Professor G. Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore, at the institute’s grand 42nd Annual Convocation ceremony, held on 20 March 2017.
The students graduated from the prestigious institution this year in the presence of chief guest Mr Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Kotak Bank Limited, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore, Professor G. Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore, and members of the faculty. The graduates were cheered by their proud families too, many of whom had made the trip to Bengaluru to capture the joyous moment forever.
Among the graduating students this year, eight have been awarded gold medals. In PGP (Batch 2015-17), Udit Jalan, Dharmendra Hiranandani and Vaibhav Gupta received the gold medals for first rank, second rank and best all round performance, respectively. In PGPPM (Batch 2016-17), Pranav Kumar Mallick has won the gold medal for best academic performance. From PGPEM (Batch 2015-17), the gold medal for first rank and for best all round performance went to Shishank Gupta and Suresh Ganesan, respectively.
In EPGP (2016-17), Nikhil Goyal has won the gold medal for first rank, while Kushal Nitin Dalal has won it for best all round performance. In his inspiring address, Uday Kotak, Executive Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, who was the chief guest at IIM Bangalore’s 42nd annual Convocation, described IIM Bangalore as IIM Best, to loud applause. He shared with the management graduates a few of his life experiences and career journey.
He listed the attributes for successful leaders as the 5 Cs: character, conviction, commitment, creativity and capability. “Kotak would not be what it is today if we did not think differently. As you move out of your cocoon, you will need to find creative solutions – dare to be different, test yourself, be ready to encounter challenges and also for failure, learn from your mistakes, and know that committed execution is the key to capability. You have huge opportunities, but will face tough and challenging times as well. You have to be bold but keep your values intact. You need to be resilient, and stand up for defending what you believe in.”
Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore, in her address, highlighted the institute’s milestones during the academic year 2016-17, the global rankings IIM Bangalore achieved, the important partnerships it entered into, IIM Bangalore being the convener school of the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016, IIM Bangalore mentoring the new IIM at Visakhapatnam, the surge in demand for case studies developed by IIM Bangalore’s faculty which are distributed through Harvard Business Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School, IIMB’s increased focus on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to provide access to a wide range of quality courses through blended learning programs for people who cannot afford regular management programs, IIMB’s initiatives in enabling a ‘start-up culture’ in the country and making ‘entrepreneurship’ an integral part of the school’s academic agenda, etc.
