Krea University celebrated Convocation 2024 on Saturday, 22 June at The Music Academy, Chennai.
This year, we were privileged to have Dr K VijayRaghavan, Former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India as the Chief Guest at the ceremony.
The event witnessed the graduation of 350 students — UG Cohort of SIAS (School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences) (2024), PG Diploma Cohort of SIAS (2024), 2 year MBA Cohort of IFMR GSB (Graduate School of Business) (2024), 3 year L&T MBA Cohort of IFMR GSB (2024) and PhD Cohort of Krea University (2024). They were conferred with degrees in the presence of Chancellor of Krea University, Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chancellor Professor Nirmala Rao; members of the Governing Council, Amitava Saha, Dr Vidya Vencatesan, C Srinivasa Raju, D Sundaram, Raghu Sundaram, Kapil Viswanathan; member of the Advisory Group, R Seshasayee; members of the Board of Management, Paula Mariwala, Roxana Daver and Rajeev Mecheri; Dean of IFMR GSB Professor Lakshmi Kumar, Academic Dean of SIAS Dr Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi, Dean of Research Professor Sivakumar Srinivasan and other members of the Krea community.
Convocation 2024 also witnessed the conferral of the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa (L.H.D.), upon Professor David Shulman, Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies in the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (DLitt), upon Dr Rukmini Banerji, CEO of the Pratham Education Foundation, in recognition of exceptional services to education and development.
Chief Guest
Dr K VijayRaghavan
Former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
A former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Dr Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan is currently Professor Emeritus and Homi Bhabha Chair at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Recipient of the Padma Shri, Dr VijayRaghavan is also a fellow of the Royal Society, a foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Dr VijayRaghavan graduated with a BTech degree and a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He obtained his PhD from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). His research interests include developmental biology, genetics, and neurogenetics.
Honorary Doctorate Recipient
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa (L.H.D.)
Professor David Shulman
Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies in the Department of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Professor David Shulman is an Indologist, poet, author, literary critic, cultural anthropologist and peace activist. Presently he holds a chair as Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is also a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences.
Professor Shulman’s research interests are Indian poetics, Dravidian linguistics, the Renaissance in South India in the 16th and 17th centuries, Islam in South India and Carnatic classical music. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 books on various subjects ranging from temple myths and temple poems to essays that cover the wide spectrum of the cultural history of South India.
Professor Shulman is also the founding member of the joint Israeli-Palestinian movement Ta’ayush, described as a grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership.
Honorary Doctorate Recipient
Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (DLitt)
Dr Rukmini Banerji
CEO, Pratham Education Foundation
Dr Rukmini Banerji is the Chief Executive Officer of Pratham Education Foundation. She joined Pratham in 1996 and has worked extensively in Pratham’s education programmes in rural and urban areas. Dr Banerji led Pratham’s research and assessment efforts, including the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) exercise from 2005 to 2014 and in 2015 took over as the CEO of Pratham.
Dr Banerji was the first recipient of the Maulana Abul Kalam Shiksha Puraskar, awarded by the Government of Bihar in 2008. In 2021, Dr Banerji was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development, the world’s highest education accolade.
Dr Banerji was trained as an economist at St Stephen’s College, Delhi and the Delhi School of Economics. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and completed her PhD at the University of Chicago before returning to India to pursue her work in pioneering education reforms. She frequently writes on education in both Hindi and English dailies in India and enjoys writing books and stories for children.
Former Chief Scientific Adviser Government of India
Chief Guest
Dr K VijayRaghavan
Former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
A former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Dr Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan is currently Professor Emeritus and Homi Bhabha Chair at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Recipient of the Padma Shri, Dr VijayRaghavan is also a fellow of the Royal Society, a foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Dr VijayRaghavan graduated with a BTech degree and a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He obtained his PhD from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). His research interests include developmental biology, genetics, and neurogenetics.
Professor Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Honorary Doctorate Recipient
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa (L.H.D.)
Professor David Shulman
Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies in the Department of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Professor David Shulman is an Indologist, poet, author, literary critic, cultural anthropologist and peace activist. Presently he holds a chair as Renee Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is also a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences.
Professor Shulman’s research interests are Indian poetics, Dravidian linguistics, the Renaissance in South India in the 16th and 17th centuries, Islam in South India and Carnatic classical music. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 books on various subjects ranging from temple myths and temple poems to essays that cover the wide spectrum of the cultural history of South India.
Professor Shulman is also the founding member of the joint Israeli-Palestinian movement Ta’ayush, described as a grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership.
CEO, Pratham Education Foundation
Honorary Doctorate Recipient
Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (DLitt)
Dr Rukmini Banerji
CEO, Pratham Education Foundation
Dr Rukmini Banerji is the Chief Executive Officer of Pratham Education Foundation. She joined Pratham in 1996 and has worked extensively in Pratham’s education programmes in rural and urban areas. Dr Banerji led Pratham’s research and assessment efforts, including the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) exercise from 2005 to 2014 and in 2015 took over as the CEO of Pratham.
Dr Banerji was the first recipient of the Maulana Abul Kalam Shiksha Puraskar, awarded by the Government of Bihar in 2008. In 2021, Dr Banerji was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development, the world’s highest education accolade.
Dr Banerji was trained as an economist at St Stephen’s College, Delhi and the Delhi School of Economics. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and completed her PhD at the University of Chicago before returning to India to pursue her work in pioneering education reforms. She frequently writes on education in both Hindi and English dailies in India and enjoys writing books and stories for children.