The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore celebrated its Thirty-Eighth Foundation Day on October 28, 2011. On this occasion, the Distinguished Alumnus Awards 2011 were conferred on three notable alumni. The Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA) is given every year to those chosen few alumni of IIMB who have excelled in industry or academia and have also contributed to society. Each recipient of the DAA receives a citation and his/her name is engraved on the wall of fame in the Institute.
This year, the three distinguished alumni were chosen from the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) of IIMB. The awards were given to: Mr Abhishek Mukherjee PGP '76; Professor Praveen K Kopalle PGP '88 and Mr Sonjoy Chatterjee PGP '94.
Mr Abhishek Mukherjee- PGP '76
A founding member of Compaq India, he was instrumental in transforming the Indian computer industry. A mechanical engineer from IIT Kharagpur, he served in a variety of sales and marketing roles at Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd., Godrej and Boyce and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. before moving into the Information Technology industry. As Executive Director of PCL he managed the high profile launch of Dell Computers in India. He then moved to Compaq Computer Corporation as its first employee and Country Manager for Indian in 1994. Abhishek managed Magnasoft Consulting India as its start-up Chairman and CEO during 2002-2008. Today, Abhishek is a Management Consultant, Investor and Mentor. He is associated with charitable activities in the field of education and works as the alumni activities moderator for his classes at IIT and IIMB.
Professor Praveen K Kopalle- PGP '88
Dr Praveen K Kopalle is currently Professor of Marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Dr Kopalle's research has been at the intersection of technology and marketing, particularly in the retailing domain. In addition to his awards, research, and editorial accomplishments, Praveen Kopalle is also a Research Director (Internet marketing and pricing) at the Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies, a faculty associate of William F Achtmeyer Center for Global Leadership, both at the Tuck School. Professor Kopalle has been invited to speak at over forty universities and institutes worldwide including IIMB and his research has received a lot of attention in the business press as well. He is a consultant to both Fortune 500 and startup companies and holds advisory positions in India and USA. Further, over the years, Professor Kopalle has sensitized his MBA students at Tuck to India and Indian culture.
Mr Sonjoy Chatterjee- PGP '94
Mr Chatterjee is Chairman of Goldman Sachs India having joined the firm as a Partner in May 2010. Prior to this he had a 16-year career with ICICI Bank where he was Executive Director on the main Board and was responsible for Corporate Banking and International Banking. Sonjoy held several senior management roles at ICICI, first as head of strategic support in the office of the Group CEO during 1998-2000, when the bank transformed itself from a development financial institution to a universal banking group with interests in banking, insurance, private equity and asset management. He was also the founding Managing Director & CEO of ICICI Bank UK which in 2007 became India's largest overseas banking entity. He worked closely with key clients, first as Senior Vice President of the Major Clients Group and then as Head of the Global Client Group comprising the top 50 corporate accounts. Sonjoy is part of the Leaders Council of the International Business Leaders Forum, London, a social initiative group comprising global leaders.