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Distinguished alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, Romesh Wadhwani, gifted his alma mater $5 million at the IIT Bombay Golden Jubilee Conference 2008, held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel Times Square in New York City last weekend. These funds will be utilized to set up a bioscience center at IIT Bombay.

“I owe my success in life to the superior education I received from IIT Bombay, and this is my way of saying thank you,” said Romesh Wadhwani

Anil Kshirsagar, President of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, said, “Mr. Wadhwani’s generosity is another example our alumni’s consistent commitment to give back to IIT Bombay.”

Spurred by Mr. Wadhwani’s inspiration, several alumni, individually and in groups, initiated efforts to raise an additional $2 Million for the benefit of their school and its students.

A thousand people—friends and alumni of IIT Bombay—came together last weekend to celebrate 50 years of IIT Bombay. It was the largest alumni event for an Indian university, outside India.

“We had set lofty and ambitious goals for ourselves and we far exceeded these expectations, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors!” said an elated Suresh Shenoy, the chairman of the conference. “This event was organized and executed by volunteers—IIT Bombay alumni drawn from across North America. This team operated with synchronized precision, producing an outstanding conference and gala.” he added.

Victor Menezes, Retired Senior Vice Chairman of Citigroup and co-chairman of this event said, “The conference theme was Looking Ahead: The Next Fifty Years. Ideas and perspectives from more than 55 insightful speakers—Jamie Dimon (CEO, JP Morgan Chase), Ronen Sen (Ambassador of India to the United States), Frank Wisner (Vice Chairman, AIG, and former US Ambassador to India), David Leebron (President, Rice University), and others—made the conference intense and thought-provoking.”

During the latter part of each day, the tenor changed to that of a celebratory gala, with a delightful variety of cuisines, an energetic and slick Indian classical dance program by Natraj School, a colorful fashion show by Alia Khan, and dancing to music by IIT Bombay alumnus “Ouch” Awalegaonkar and the Bollywood Rockers.

“In addition to the fascinating panel discussions and speeches about the next fifty years, alumni also took the time to celebrate their golden jubilee reunion and enjoyed the company of their friends and classmates,” said Uday Nadkarni, President of the Greater New York Chapter.


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