Dr. Pawan Goenka heads IIT Madras Board.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director & President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., is now the Chairman of the Board of Governors At the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. The appointment was made by President Pranab Mukherjee in his capacity as Visitor of the Institute. Dr. Goenka will head the board for a period of three years with effect from June 9, 2014.

Dr. Goenka will now preside over all Board meetings, helping promote the policy advocacy priorities of the IIT Madras. He will also advise the Board of Governors 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. Prof Sharma had brought a sharp focus to research at IITM during his tenure.

Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras said that Dr. Goenka, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, is an internationally acknowledged scientist, manager with several citations to his credit. Dr. Goenka said that he was 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.