47 students graduate from IIM Visakhapatnam with 2 toppers bagging 3 gold medals
Visakhapatnam: “The ability to adapt to change is the hallmark of an effective leader, and being young and talented I want you to create opportunities for yourselves and others,” said Hari S. Bhartia, well known industrialist and Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Visakhapatnam, in his address at the first Convocation of the institute, held here today.
A total of 47 students of the two-year full-time Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) graduated at a simple and elegant ceremony in the city. While 42 students collected the diplomas in person, 5 were awarded diplomas in absentia.
There were 3 gold medals awarded, for the first and second rank, and one for best all round performance. Abhishek Goel received the gold medal for First Rank in Academic Performance. Ganapathi Subramanian V secured the gold medal for Second Rank in Academic Performance as well as the gold medal for Best All Round Performance.
“Students representing as many as 19 states and union territories chose IIMV for their management education pursuit, lending the institute a truly national character. We are indeed proud of this distinction,” Hari Bhartia said.
The students graduated from the new institution this year in the presence of IIMV’s Board of Governors, Professor M. Chandrasekhar, Director, IIM Visakhapatnam, Professor G. Raghuram, Director IIM Bangalore, Professors Rajendra Bandi, Ganesh N Prabhu, and Anil Suraj from IIM Bangalore.
The Chairman of IIM Visakhapatnam had a special word of gratitude for IIM Bangalore’s faculty, staff and students, who, he emphasized, have played a significant role in mentoring IIM Visakhapatnam, which includes its placement process. “I compliment and thank the faculty and staff of IIM Bangalore, ably led by Prof. Sushil Vachani and Prof. R. Srinivasan in the past and in the present by Prof. G. Raghuram, for ensuring close alignment of the academic and governance processes of this institute with those of IIM Bangalore, resulting in very high standards, right from the beginning.”
Referring to the permanent campus to be built at Gambheeram of Anandapuram mandal, Hari Bhartia said, “IIMV would build a truly world-class and future-proof campus with ambience and aesthetics of global standards. Our goal is to make the campus a legendary landmark.”
He shared that IIMV aims to make a significant contribution to nation-building. “For a young institute that is just about two years old, IIMV has a well-equipped transit campus, replete with state-of-the-art teaching-learning aids, modern audio-visual facilities and amenities. As an institution of national importance, it’s my wish that IIM Visakhapatnam leverage the vibrant ecosystem of the country and of the state gainfully, offering distinctive academic and research programmes to meet the current and emerging opportunities in the industry and the government. It would look for opportunities for making significant knowledge contribution to the key socio-economic sectors forming part of the National Development Agenda and be a part of the exciting growth story in the country’s socio-economic progress and inclusive development. I am confident that on the strength of its good work, IIMV would soon emerge as an institute of eminence, with demonstrated excellence in management education and research.”
To the graduating students and the award winners he said, “Entering this institution facing intense competition, you pursued your academic work with great dedication. With your hard work and with dedication to maintain high standards, you earned your degrees and awards. It is a moment of pride for you as much as it is for your teachers, parents and those who had any part in shaping your life so far. The knowledge and skills, and more importantly the moral and ethical values that IIMV encourages, would enable you to make a great start.”
Professor M. Chandrasekhar, Director, IIMV, echoed the sentiment in his own address. “I am fortunate that I came in at a time, when the institute has already made substantial progress under the tutelage of the successive Directors of IIM Bangalore, our mentor. Their inspiring vision and passionate commitment brought this institute into the admirable shape that it finds itself in, today. No less valuable has been the dedication and unstinting support by the faculty (for knowledge transfer and experience-sharing) and staff of IIMB in helping this fledgling institute find its feet, steady itself and graduate into a gallop. I would therefore be failing in my duty, if I do not acknowledge with gratitude at this juncture, how much this institute and I, personally owe to our colleagues at IIM Bangalore,” he said.
“It is said that an academic institution is known by its ambience and ambition. Housed as we are, fully-equipped, in the salubrious environs of Andhra University, good ambience and conducive eco-system are a given. And for this, I would like to take a moment to express our gratefulness to the leadership of Andhra University for the generous cooperation and support being extended. Powered as we are by the intellectual and institutional support of IIMB, there can’t be dearth of ambition either. It has therefore been the endeavour of IIM Visakhapatnam to provide, ab initio, integrated learning backed by innovative curriculum, imaginative pedagogy, internationalization and industry-interface.”
Listing the successes and achievements of the one-year-old institute, he said, “Almost 70% of IIMV’s students had already acquired work experience upwards of one year. This significantly raised the quality of debate, dialogue, discussions and deliberations both inside and outside the classrooms. It is therefore not surprising that our graduates, moulded as well-rounded professionals, created waves by winning several top prizes in many competitions, fests and quizzes, showcasing their talents with equal ease — be it in case studies or corporate affairs; designing or dancing; marketing or mind challenges; innovation or entrepreneurship; simulation or strategy formulation.”
The relevance and rigour of the academic programme, he said, reflected in the positive attributes, skills and knowledge demonstrated by the graduates, and won them high praise in summer placements. The institute could thus attract several reputed companies which made attractive final placement offers. “IIM Visakhapatnam has already emerged as a much sought-after source in the country, for good talent. The industry spread of our recruiters and the roles offered to our students are diverse and challenging, covering eCommerce, Equity Research & Analytics, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance, FMCG, Infrastructure, IT & ITeS, Logistics, Management Consulting, and Marketing,” he said.
“I would like to say that we would be an institute with a spirit of T-20 and philosophy of a Test Match. This means that our academics and research would focus as much on the longitudinal perspectives of the government and near-term challenges of the industry, as on current needs of the citizenry and expectations of the society at large. Work hard in silence. Let success make all the noise, would be our guiding principle,” Prof. Chandrasekhar said to the graduating students.
The very first Convocation of IIM Visakhapatnam ended on a festive and celebratory note. The graduates were cheered by their proud families too, many of whom had made the trip to Visakhapatnam to capture the joyous moment forever.