Alumni Community Chair

Description

Dr. Nagarajan is currently Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Madras, and Dean of International & Alumni Relations. He obtained his B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering in 1981 from IIT Madras, and a Ph.D. in the same field from Yale University (New Haven, CT, USA) in 1986.

From 1988 – 2003, Dr. Nagarajan was a Senior Technical Staff Member with IBM Storage Systems Development Laboratory in San Jose, CA. Dr. Nagarajan returned to Chennai in 2003, and served as G.S. Laddha Visiting Professor at A.C. College of Technology for one semester, prior to taking up his position as Professor at IIT Madras in February 2004. His teaching and research endeavours are focused on cleanroom processes, nano-technology and ultrasonic process-intensification. He has won several awards, including Outstanding Younger Member Award, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), April 1990; Patent  (# 5,879,578) Issue Award, March 1999 several IBM Innovation & Performance Awards and Team Awards, etc…

From Feb 2009 - Aug 2012, he served as Advisor, Office of Alumni Affairs at IIT Madras, and since September 2012, has been serving as the Institute's first-ever Dean of International & Alumni Relations. He has transformed alumni engagement with the Institute. Building the alumni community, fund-raising and enhancing IITM's relations with global academic institutions have been key achievements during his Deanship. The Institute raised a record Rs. 73 Cr in FY 2017-18, an all-time high contribution from a record number of donors. He has personally sponsored 10 student Awards. He has established 17 joint doctorate degree programs with leading global Universities. During his tenure as Dean I & AR, he has brought corporate professionalism to IITM with his approach to work and leadership based on setting a personal example. His passion for writing pop fiction is well known, and his extempore speeches have been well appreciated by the audience.

As a fitting recognition of his various academic and administrative contributions, the Institute has recently designated him as Chair Professor in the Department of Chemical engineering.

We request all alumni who have interacted with Prof. Nag, and have fond memories with him, to sponsor the Chair he occupies. An Institute Chair requires an Endowment of Rs 65 lakhs ($ 100K), and the annual returns from the principal will be used to sustain the Chair.

We appeal to all of you to join hands in this endeavour and contribute generously.

                                                         Alumni Community Chair Launch