20 JULY, 2020: The IIMB family bid adieu to Professor G. Raghuram whose term as Director came to a close today and welcomed Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan as Director of the school.
Dean Faculty Chetan Subramanian welcomed the gathering, virtually. “IIMB would like to place on record its deepest appreciation for Prof. G. Raghuram. His boundless energy and his willingness to reach out to colleagues, especially on contentious issues, are remarkable,” he said.
Listing Prof. Raghuram’s achievements as Director, he said 23 new faculty had been hired during his tenure, four new research centres had been set up, a PhD in Entrepreneurship has been launched, two inclusive programmes such as the NSR Pre-Doc and Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programmes had been designed, the PGP BA (Business Analytics) has been launched, and the school had enhanced its national and global rankings (NIRF, FT, QS, MOOCsLab).
Prof. Gopal Naik, former dean faculty, described Raghuram as a “24×7 Director” and lauded him for his contributions to the school, especially in building consensus through consultation with stakeholders.
Prof. M.S. Narasimhan, Dean Administration, recalled Prof. G. Raghuram’s high energy and enthusiasm in all matters related to the school and wished him well.
Prof. K. Kumar, Dean Alumni Relations and Development, thanked Prof. Raghuram for leaving behind strong legacies for the school such as setting up of the Former Faculty Forum, starting the practice of honouring faculty during Guru Purnima, and the IIMB History Project. Lauding him for handling all matters, including the pandemic, with equanimity, he credited Prof. Raghuram for believing in “taking everyone along”.
Prof. Avinash Mulky, Member, Board of Governors, IIMB, recalled his 46-yearold association with Prof. Raghuram. “We admire your eye for detail. Even as a student, you read every case! Your firm belief in the faculty-driven nature of this institution and your participation in every committee meeting show us your vision. You took the lead in transitioning from the diploma programmes to the degree-granting programmes. You also took the lead in setting up the new campus by starting of the construction of the Management Development Centre (MDC).”
Describing Prof. Raghuram’s passion for the railways, Prof. Mulky wished him to be the Railways Minister of India in the future, and thanked Prof. Raghuram’s family for supporting him in all his various academic and administrative activities.
Prof. Rajendra K. Bandi , Member of the IIMB Board of Governors, lauded Prof. Raghuram for extending whole-hearted support to the NSR Pre-Doc programme, a one-of-its-kind programme in India. “Prof. Raghuram’s connect with former faculty colleagues is remarkable. He set up a forum and made it possible for us at IIMB to recognize their contributions.”
Aju John Varghese, Special Officer, Director’s Office, said he learnt the true meaning of the term ‘work ethic’ in association with Prof. Raghuram. “He has been a wonderful conduit with the MHRD, especially, and has wonderful connect with all the IIMs and their Directors. Everyone has a lot of faith in his leadership.”
A.R. Ramesh, who has been working with the IIMB Director’s Office as Special Officer since 1989, said Prof. Raghuram is the seventh director he worked for. “Resilience, adaptability and energy are his hallmarks. Apart from Professors J. Philip and N.S. Ramaswamy, no other director has such a large office staff and this is because he is involved in so many initiatives and makes it a point to meet everyone who seeks an appointment with him. He cycles to work, travels by train and uses economy class by air, revealing his simplicity.”
Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, highlighted Prof. Raghuram’s “zero-plate waste” initiative for making everyone on campus aware of the need for responsible consumption and remarked on his connect with students, be it his ‘bhangra’ with them (the video of which went viral) and his happy participation in the ethnic meal events at the hostel, also serving food to the students.
Madan Mohan Raj, Chief Programmes Officer, Executive Education Programmes, called it a privilege to work with Prof. Raghuram. “An outstanding people manager who listened with empathy, your clarity of thought and vision helped EEP make the strides it has over the last three years,” he said to Prof. Raghuram. He also recalled the Director’s passion for infrastructure and the railways and said his excellence in these domains served the institute well.
Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan, Chairperson, IIMBx, said she will always treasure her “arguments ” with Prof. Raghuram, whose willingness to look at the other point of view she will always admire.
Sharath Kumar, Administrative Officer, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management, Parthasarathy S, Head, Alumni Relations Office, and Suresh K, Head of Development, said it was always a challenge to match Prof. Raghuram’s energy and admired his friendly disposition and approachable nature (“never have we seen him in a suit or sporting a tie!”)
Shivakumar Venkateswaran, Chief Human Resources Officer, expressed his gratitude for getting the opportunity to work with someone who has “such a wonderful connect with people”.
Bhavani Karthikeyan, Head – Finance, said she learnt many precious leadership traits from Prof. Raghuram.
Col. (Retd.) S.D. Aravendan, Chief Administrative Officer, recalled Prof. Raghuram’s support and guidance in all administrative matters.
Administrative Officer (Hostels) Komala Devi, who spoke on behalf of the Staff Recreation Club of IIMB, said Prof. Raghuram’s infectious enthusiasm and participation in all institute events be it the Kannada Rajyotsava, the Cricket Tournament for the Blind, or the Retreat for Non-teaching Staff.
Prof. Sourav Mukherji, Chairperson, Centre for Teaching & Learning at IIMB, admired Prof. Raghuram’s fitness (yoga, walks, running and cycling) and said he has set very high standards for all Directors of the school in terms of participation in all student events.
“Adjunct faculty felt included during your tenure at IIMB,” said Prof. V.N. Bhattacharya.
Prof. Venky Panchapagesan, Chairperson, NSRCEL, said: “Prof. Raghuram’s ‘open door’ policy and his attention to detail are very inspiring. His desire to achieve consensus when unanimity is not possible is also admirable. He always nudged us towards achieving better outcomes.”
Prof. Dalhia Mani, faculty from the Entrepreneurship area at IIMB, recalled anecdotes from a four-day journey for alumni meets with Prof. Raghuram. “He is so gracious and kind, and he made me feel very comfortable. He even drove across cities for the meetings. He ensured there was no bureaucracy when we had to get things done.”
Prof. Shankar Venkatagiri, faculty in the Decision Sciences area, and Chairperson of the IT Facilitation Committee, said he had deep respect for Prof. Raghuram’s ability for closure of tasks and focus. In a lighter vein, Prof. Venkatgiri recalled how in a MOOCs session for faculty, Prof, Raghuram was the only one to catch an error in his presentation.
Prof. G. Sabarinathan, Chairperson, EPGP, said he had a wish, an observation, an offer, a question, and a confession for Prof. Raghuram. “The wish is for a healthy, happy retired life, with his family getting more time with him. The observation is about his generosity of spirit – he is very forgiving of others’ behaviour and he never held grudges. The offer is that since he is too good a person not to be an alumnus of IIMB, I wish he becomes an alumnus of this school. The question is ‘what is the secret of your energy’? ‘It would be good to know what the secret sauce of your energy is’, and the confession will be private!”
Prof. R.T. Krishnan said he had known Prof. Raghuram since 1991 when he joined IIMA as a doctoral student. “All credit to him for managing the transition of Directors in such an efficient and seamless manner,” he said, adding that IIMB will always have a special place for Prof. Raghuram.
Responding to the speakers, Prof. Raghuram thanked them all and said everyone had been “overgenerous in their praise”. Observing that travel and meeting people are things that he intrinsically enjoyed, he said it was not really a challenge for him. He was grateful for the opportunity to lead the school, especially at this age and stage of his life, and for the support he received here. He attributed whatever achievements were listed to the fact that IIMB is an ongoing institution and many of them had seeds sown much before his tenure. He specially thanked all the Deans that he worked with and his office staff. While the COVID-19 situation had added a dimension of challenge of leading the institution in the last few months, he felt that he could not socialize with various groups of faculty and staff that he had intended to. He welcomed Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan as the new Director, saying that Prof. RTK’s simplicity and eye for detail were more than his own. He wished Prof. RTK and IIMB all the best to scale greater heights.
