• The dignitaries will receive the honorary degrees at the 54th Convocation of IIT Kanpur

• Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be the Chief Guest at the convocation

• UP Gov. Smt. Anandiben Patel, Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will be present as Guests of Honour

Kanpur, 24 December, 2021: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur will bestow honorary doctorate degrees (Honoris Causa) upon three eminent personalities - Prof. Rohini M. Godbole, Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan and Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty at its 54th Convocation to be held on December 28, 2021. Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be the Chief Guest for the convocation that is to be held in a hybrid mode. Hon’ble Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Smt. Anandiben Patel; Hon’ble Minister of Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath will be present as the Guests of Honour.

Prof. Rohini M. Godbole is an Indian physicist and academic specializing in Elementary particle physics: Field Theory and Phenomenology. She is currently a professor at the Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She has worked extensively on different aspects of particle phenomenology over the past three decades, in particular on exploring different aspects of the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) and the physics beyond it (BSM). Prof. Godbole has been an avid communicator on women in science and is a much sought-after communicator among the youth. She has also edited a book Lilavati’s Daughters, a collection of biographical essays on women scientists from India, with Ram Ramaswamy.

Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan is one of the co-founders of Infosys. He served as the Vice-Chairman of Infosys from 2011 to 2014, and as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from 2007 to 2011. Recognized as a global business and technology thought leader, he has several accolades to his name. He was voted the top CEO (IT Services category) in Institutional Investor's inaugural ranking of Asia's Top Executives and was one of the winners of the 2nd Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia in 2011. He was also selected to Thinkers 50, an elite list of global business thinkers, in 2009. He was elected President of India's apex industry chamber, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2013 – 14, and served as one of the co-chairs of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014.

Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty is a well-renowned Indian classical vocalist. He is considered a scion and doyen of the Patiala-Kasur Gharana (style), primarily representing Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib's gayaki. Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty also portrays other major classical gharanas of India like Indor, Delhi, Jaipur, Gwalior, Agra, Kirana, Rampur and even Carnatic music of South India. With more than 100 albums to his credit, he has received several accolades including the prestigious Padma Shri (2011), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1999-2000), The Kumar Gandharva Samman (1993), and the Best Male Playback Singer (Bengali Film Chhandaneer in 1990).

All the three eminent personalities will receive their honorary doctorate degrees in the presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and other dignitaries. They are being honored for their exemplary contributions in their respective fields.

Additionally, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will also give the major awards of the convocation. This year, President’s Gold Medal will be awarded to Mr. Abhyuday Pandey for ‘best academic performance’, Director’s Gold Medal (4-year UG Program) to Ms. Vasundhara Rakesh for ‘outstanding all-round achievement and leadership’, Director’s Gold Medal (5-year UG program) to Nivedita for ‘outstanding all-round achievement and leadership’, and Ratan Swarup Memorial Prize to Mr. Yash Maheshwari for ‘best all-rounder’.

The convocation will see 1723 students receiving their degrees. A total of 80 prizes and medals will be given in the second session of the convocation later in the day. Further, a total of 21 students will be awarded the Outstanding PhD Thesis Award in the second session of the convocation.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 53rd Convocation last year was held fully virtually for the first time in the history of IIT Kanpur. This year, the event will be held in a hybrid mode. While a total of about 880 students are expected to attend the Convocation in-person on the campus, the remaining students will be able to join the event remotely. The event will also be streamed live.

About IIT Kanpur:

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur was established on 2nd November 1959 by an Act of Parliament. The institute has a sprawling campus spread over 1055 acres with large pool of academic and research resources spanning across 17 departments, 25 centres, and 5 Interdisciplinary programs in engineering, science, design, humanities, and management disciplines with 480 full-time faculty members and approximately 9000 students. In addition to formal undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the institute has been active in research and development in areas of value to both industry and government.

For more information, visit: www.iitk.ac.in .