BITS Pilani 88 Batch Raise Alma mater Altitude with INR 1.5 Crores Endowment for Scholarships

The BITS Pilani Alumni Association BITSAA International takes great pride to announce a whopping INR 1.5 Crores ($200,000) endowment to their Alma mater Institution of Eminence featuring in QS / THE World University rankings Birla Institute of Technology and Science - Pilani Campus that will support student success across disciplines by the scheme the ‘Spirit of BITS1988 Scholarship’.

The corpus money is expected to yield INR 10lakhs annually which will be utilized for awarding financial help to deserving students. The Scholarship celebrates the can-do attitude, esprit de corps of the entering Batch of 1988 and serves to fondly celebrate the memory of loved ones lost from the batch.

Members of every major religion undertake pilgrimages and for the alumni of BITS Pilani which is one among the top ranking universities in India today visiting their alma mater years after their graduation, is undoubtedly a pilgrimage. With PQ Passion Quotient for alma mater peaking, for each one of them, Pilani is just not a destination where one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.

The Batch of 1988 celebrated its Silver Jubilee Reunion SJR a year back during 8-12 Nov 2017 and a record number of 297 BITSians of the batch attended the same. The alumni reunion indeed looked like a stellar constellation of Chairmen, Managing Directors, COOs, CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, Scientists, Presidents and Vice Presidents, Techies, Entrepreneurs, Media Moghuls, Academicians, Distinguished Professors, Realtors as well as Consultants. Each one of them undoubtedly has been a dreamer, performer, achiever and a leader in applying technology to improve lives across society. Each one of them had no hesitation in agreeing that their stay at Pilani had left an indelible mark on their lives.

During the SJR the batch had committed a substantial endowment for award of scholarships to deserving students by raising funds through a collective effort with the goal towards promoting active alumni engagement and making a difference across campus. As part of this sustained initiative, the beneficiary students each year will be chosen by BITS administration and each student will receive an award that will cover 25% of tuition fees. Starting January 2019, 4 students from the Pilani campus will receive the award for a period of 4 years. The fund will continue to award a new set of 4 scholars every year.

Representatives of the 88-batch who spearheaded the fund-raising effort included Diwakar Pingle, Managing Director at Christensen India Private Limited; Srikanth Krishnamurthy, CEO, Alfa Rubber; Rajesh Chelapurath, President & Managing Member, Ceera Investments, LLC; Vallabh Das, Professor and Chair of Vision Sciences, College of Optometry, University of Houston; and Raj Rao, Professor and Head of Biomedical Engineering, University of Arkansas.

To quote Diwakar Pingle who had played a stellar role in organizing the reunion and fundraising efforts, “As proud BITSians, our goal was to build a legacy based on the 88-batch name and give back to our alma mater and It is our hope that this effort by the 88-batch will serve as a model for other batches to follow suit and set up similar endowments to benefit different requirements at BITS, as they deem fit”.

Very recently national and international media had given wide coverage to the gigantic Research Endowment the largest ever as on date to BITS Pilani by Proud to be BITSians USA based alumni couple Reflexis Founder 78 Batch Prashant and Juju Productions founder 84 batch Anuradha Palakurthi. When it comes to Alumni Alma mater connect, BITS Pilani undoubtedly is no way less than the Ivy league institutions.

Unlike many other institutions, the alumni of BITS do not believe in resting in the glory of their Alma mater but passionately believe in adding glory to their Alma mater by their achievements and contributions.

For more details see https://www.bitsaa.org/

About BITSAA: BITS Alumni Association (BITSAA) has emerged as one of the strongest alumni networks of any university. BITSAA International engages in charitable and educational activities by raising funds for setting up endowments, creating scholarships, rewarding teaching and research and generally promoting the development of resources at Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani, Dubai, Goa & Hyderabad campuses. BITSAA International also aims to strengthen the ties, friendship and communication amongst former students, alumni faculty and friends of the Institute. BITSAA International provides a number of channels for people to stay connected with each other and with Birla Institute of Technology & Science. Notable other alumni initiatives for BITS Pilani include Prof SSR Memorial Teaching Excellence Award, Atma Nirbara multi crore Pilani Resource Centre by 75-80 batch alumni, Prashant Anuradha Palakurthi Research Endowment and many more. For more on BITSAA see https://www.bitsaa.org/

Prof BR Natarajan
BITS Pilani Alumnus
Pilani Rajasthan India 333031
Phone: +91-9799476406
Email: brnatarajan@bitsaa.org
Website: https://www.bitsaa.org/

This release was published on openPR.