The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, which held its 46th convocation ceremony virtually on Friday, celebrated the graduation of 624 students, a majority of whom, 435, had completed the Post Graduate Programme in Management. Twenty-two students were awarded the doctoral degrees, while 72 were from the executive postgraduate programme.
In his address to the graduating students, Dr. Arvind Krishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, said, “Your generation is more global, educated, tolerant, and technology savvy than perhaps any that has come before it. It is because of the kind of minds that exist here at IIM Bangalore that I know that we will surprise the pessimists.”
Curiosity and persistence, he said, would help them be better business leaders. “Curiosity is what will allow you to find problems that are worth solving. It will give you a new sense of what the word ‘discovery’ means, and will lead you down all sorts of interesting paths. Ultimately, it is your propensity to learn throughout your life — not your intellect, not your degree, not even your experience — that will determine your success.”
He expressed optimism about India’s future: “India is a technology powerhouse with more than half of the world’s largest 1,200 multinationals having set up their R&D centres in the country. I have immense confidence in your generation’s ability to take on the challenges of our day, use this as an opportunity to build a better future and fix some of the fault lines that the crisis has exposed.”
Chairperson of the IIMB Board of Directors Devi Shetty highlighted the efforts put in by the faculty, students, alumni and staff of IIMB, while Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, highlighted some of the achievements and accomplishments of the institute. He pointed out that the Class of 2021 has been recruited by reputed companies despite COVID-19 disruptions.
