Pawan Goenka appointed Chairman of board of governors of IIT-Madras

Pawan Goenka, executive director & President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., has been appointed the Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. The appointment was made by the President of India in his capacity as Visitor of the Institute, and is for a period of three years.

As the Chairman, Goenka will preside over all Board meetings, helping promote the policy advocacy priorities of the IIT Madras. In this capacity, he will also advise the board and senior IIT-M management on a wide range of issues.

He takes over as Chairman from Prof. M.M. Sharma, Padma Vibhushan, member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Prime Minister, and doyen of Indian academia, who brought a sharp focus to research at IITM during his tenure.

''An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Goenka is an internationally acknowledged scientist manager with several citations to his credit. A stalwart of the automobile industry, he has spearheaded various prestigious industry bodies and I am certain he will add tremendous value to this role as well,'' said Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.

''It is an honour and I am humbled to have been appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Madras.  I am looking forward to working with the Director of the Institute, Prof. Ramamurthi and the Board to contribute towards the Institute's goals of building Scientific & Engineering excellence, incubating innovation and encouraging entrepreneurship. Going forward, I am banking on the support from the Board and active participation from the student and alumni fraternity for adding sheen to an institute with an already outstanding pedigree and reputation,'' said Goenka.