IIT-Kharagpur to set up Academy of Leadership: Director
IIT-Kharagpur is all set to establish an "Academy of Leadership" which intends to develop innovative programs combining the core curricula in science and engineering disciplines with philosophy and liberal arts. "This academy will be based not only on scientific and technical training but teachings of ancient philosophies, reasoning, systems engineering, and the past successes and failures of humanity," IIT-Kharagpur Director PP Chakrabarti said yesterday.
The academy will be named after IIT-Kharagpur alumnus Partha Ghosh, who has promised to donate $1mn to set up of an Academy of Leadership. Courses at the academy will be open to students at all levels. Ghosh is presently a professor at Tufts University.
The academy, touted to be India's first of its kind, will be seed-funded by Ghosh, often addressed as a "creative problem solver" and "visionary leader" by the government and industry leaders across nations in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and America. "Under this academy, programs would be developed to nurture leadership qualities in individuals...making it a vibrant self-sufficient one with a global reputation," Chakrabarti said.
The initiative was facilitated by Ron Gupta, President, IIT-Kharagpur Foundation USA, who along with Subrata Chattopadhyay, Dean, Alumni Affairs, IIT-Kharagpur, led the talks with Ghosh, a former partner at McKinsey & Company, a management strategist and philanthropist, during a visit to the USA this September.
