The Hindu : National : IISc gets donation for endowed professorship

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Monday, Jun 25, 2007
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IISc gets donation for endowed professorship

Staff Reporter

SANTA CLARA:

SANTA CLARA: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) received a gift of a quarter of a million dollars from an alumnus last month, for establishing an endowed professorship, P. Balaram, Director of IISc, said on Saturday.

This is the second largest donation that IISc has got in the past few months. The donations totalling half a million dollars will be utilised for endowed professorships in biology and a yet undecided discipline.

“We will start the new endowed professorship programme shortly. It is a great opportunity for us to invite distinguished academics to teach for a semester at IISc,” he told The Hindu, on the sidelines of the first globa l conference of IISc organised by the alumni in North America.

Prof. Balram said he admired the fact that the alumni of IISc gave to the institute without expecting anything back in return. "Alumni and students are the greatest resources for all universities. Without them there is no university. This is why educational institutions need to make a greater effort in connecting with them,” he said.

He further admitted that IISc has been late in tapping its alumni network. The mission of the global conference of IISc in Santa Clara, California, is three-fold: to network with academics and researchers of leading U.S. Universities, support innovation and entrepreneurial activity, and rejuvenate relationships with alumni.

Explaining the significance of holding the global conference in Santa Clara, Prof. Ram Akella, Information Systems and Technology Management, University of California, Santa Cruz, and an alumnus of the Institute, said IISc was responding to the needs of firms in Bangalore that required expertise in research.

The first global conference of IISc is also the kick-off to IISc’s centenary year celebrations in 2008. IISc was set up in 1909 by a tripartite agreement between the Tatas, Government of India and Government of Mysore. Prof. Balaram said India’s first metallurgy and chemical engineering departments were started in IISc. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in a videoconference from the Rasthrapathi Bhavan, urged IISc to start an undergraduate program. "IISc needs to enrich students by offering an undergraduate program in science.”

He also called on IISc to establish a school of medicine. “We need centres of excellence where research in medicine can be carried out,” he added.

Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau, University of California, Berkley, said the University of California system along with pioneering educational institutions in India, including IISc, had launched a University of California India Initiative Programme. He said the vision of the programme was to focus on emerging challenges that were important to both nations. “The idea of brain drain is outmoded in this global world. As people travel between several nations, they need to discuss issues and ventures that are important to all nations.”

Mr. Birgeneau said the University of California system was poised to collaborate with Indian educational institutions. “University of California, Berkley has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IISc,” he said. Prof. N. Balakrishnan, Associate Director of IISc, said the institute was also looking to improve faculty recruitment by networking with alumni.

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