IILM Annual Convocation 2019 with Chief Guest, Padma Shri Dr Dinesh Singh, Former Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi

New Delhi: The IILM Annual PGDM Convocation for the Class of 2019, held at the Lodhi Road campus, saw the confluence of students passing out of all the three campuses of IILM – IILM Institute for Higher Education, Lodhi Road; IILM Institute for Business and Management, Gurgaon and IILM Graduate School of Management, Greater Noida.

The Chief Guest at the event was Padma Sri Awardee Dr. Dinesh Singh, former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. Dr Dinesh Singh earned his Bachelors and Masters Degree in Mathematics from St. Stephens College and obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, England. A painter, acclaimed public speaker, a student of Gandhian Philosophy, he is avidly fond of literature in English, Hindi and Urdu. Dr Singh who is currently setting up a pioneering idea in education in the form of The Internet College and The College of Startups and is also working on a book dealing with India in the Twenty First Century. Dr Singh has served on the jury of the Jnanpith Award, one of India’s most prestigious literary awards and has published numerous mathematical research papers in international journals and has also authored/edited several books. A Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Union Cabinet of Government of India and the President of Ramanujan Mathematical Society, he is also the recipient of the AMU Prize of the Indian Mathematical Society, Career Award of the University Grants Commission and the Ramasamy Aiyar Award Lecture from the Indian Mathematical Society.

Dr Dinesh Singh’s convocation speech to the students was inspiring. He spoke about how he would like to pass on some wisdom to the graduating students. He said, ‘wisdom is like a comb that life gives you when you have lost all your hair.’
He said that while it is good to earn medals, it is important not to take them too seriously. He said, ‘You need to seek medals that your heart awards to your soul. These are medals that you need to keep inside you.’ He spoke about four important medals that they need to seek to be happy and successful and those were the medals of Courage, Honesty, Hard Work & Discipline and Humility.

He also told students that each person has a drumbeat within them and the only purpose of being educated is to find out what your drumbeat is. ‘Find out what is your Dharma, that which binds you,’ he urged the students and ended his speech by saying that they should continue their learning as learning never stops and is a lifelong journey.

During the convocation, Diplomas and Certificates of Merit were awarded by Mrs Malvika Rai, Chairperson, IILM Institute for Higher Education and by the Directors of the three campuses – Dr Smitha Girija, Dr Sujata Shahi and Dr Taruna Gautam – to 373 students of the PG class of 2019. Mrs Malvika Rai presented the Dr Kulwant Rai Gold, Silver and Bronze medals to the meritorious students as well as to the overall performers. Faculty members were felicitated and Best Teacher’s awards for Core and Elective modules were given to six faculty members, two from each campus.
Dipti Das, an alumnus of Lodhi Road, Class of 1999 PGDM, who has worked in senior positions in HR the including Head of HR, South Asia, Aramex International, was felicitated. She addressed the graduating students and said, IILM gave us a learning ground and freedom to think. I would like to thank the institute for giving us direction in our journey of life.’
The Annual Report presented by Dr Smitha Girija, Director IILM Lodhi Road, highlighted various achievements of IILM in the last year, one of the most notable ones being that IILM identified 50 women from rural areas who have become grassroots entrepreneurs despite adverse circumstances to make a difference to their families, communities and villages and honoured seven of these women with an indomitable spirit of enterprise providing them a platform through which they connected to government and industry representatives, reiterating IILM’s commitment to furthering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals programme. Other important achievements of IILM in the year 2019 elaborated by Dr Girija were IILM’s collaboration with IIMBX to offer courses from their platform to students as well as developing its own online modules that have been approved by IIMBX and would be hosted on SWAYAM – a digital educational initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources Development; recognition by the Global Compact Network of India as one of the few chosen institutes to offer a full program on CSR, Sustainability and Innovation; and the launch of three Centres of Excellence – The Career Centre, The Centre for Teaching, Research & Learning and The Centre for Emotional Intelligence. Dr Girija spoke about the Faculty Development Programmes across disciplines and on diverse themes by academics and experts from IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore to Georgia State University and The George Washington University. She spoke about IILM’s plan to launch the Jagdish Sheth Centre for Leadership in July 2019 which is envisaged to generate and disseminate research-based knowledge on leadership. She said, ‘named after Prof. Jagdish Sheth, this Centre is envisaged as an independent think tank with its founding objectives ranging from promotion of research, training senior executives through customized programs and, designing strategies and plans for business growth and sustainability for consulting purposes.’
Dr Smitha Girija congratulated the students on their achievement and wished the students well for their future. She said, ‘Be brave. Be amazing. Be worthy. Don’t confuse success with excellence. Educate all of your parts. You will be healthier.’

The Convocation of 2019 marked another year of IILM sending forth a new batch of students to take forward its vision of innovation, entrepreneurship and responsible management that are the cornerstones of its educational principles and practices.