Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad organises its 58th Annual Convocation

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), a premier global management Institute, held its 58^th Annual Convocation at the famous Louis Kahn Plaza, the venue where Convocations for all graduating students have been held since 1974. The event was graced by Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys Ltd. as the Chief Guest along with Mr. Pankaj R Patel, Chairperson, IIMA Board of Governors; Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIMA; Board members and faculty members.

The campus wore a festive look and its atmosphere was charged with excitement for the Convocation – which is the biggest moment of an IIMA student’s life. As the convocation procession entered the venue, it was greeted by loud cheers from families and other guests.

The procession was led by Professor Pradyumana Khokle, Dean (Programmes) along with the Chairperson of the Ph.D. programme in Management, Professor Diptesh Ghosh, followed by Chairpersons of all programmes, faculty members and students wearing the ceremonial stoles embellished with the IIMA logo.

The Deans and Programme Chairpersons wore purple stoles; the Chief Guest, Chairperson and Director wore golden yellow, faculty members wore dark blue and other Board members wore grey for the ceremony. The students also wore their class colours with PGP, PGP-FABM, PGPX and Ph.D. wearing light blue, green, yellow and red colours, respectively.

Delivering the Convocation address, Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys Ltd. said, “The most powerful instrument of a leader is leadership by example in demonstrating courage, sacrifice, hope, confidence, innovation, hard work, truth, fairness, transparency, accountability, austerity, discipline, a good value system, and open-mindedness. How you behave when you are on top and have power and wealth is your true character. In such moments, grace, courtesy, and humility shown to others reveal the real you. In the future, at a time when there is fog on your windshield, I hope these time-invariant ideals will serve you in gaining clarity. These ideals define the finish line. Until these ideals become your second nature, my young friends, your journey and mission will not be over.

My hope for India of the future is that you, the future corporate leaders, will ensure that for all ages, for all seasons, for all regions, for all businesses, and for all people, our country will be led by the ideals I have laid out today. Be original. Be daring. Be unreasonable. Be anything that will assert the integrity of your purpose.”

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Pankaj R Patel, Chairperson, IIMA Board of Governors said, “As students of this institution, there is no doubt of the talent that you possess and the value that you will bring to the institutions that you will join or set-up. The expectations from you are many. Take this knowledge that you have learned through your academic pursuits and keep building on them and sharing them whenever opportunity presents itself.

A defining feature of any advanced learning experience is the diversity of thoughts and process of inquiry that it stimulates. We hope that you will continue to stay on this path of exploration and keep that instinct alive of questioning, being curious and finding great joy in discovering things.”

In his concluding address, Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIMA said, “IIMA has been educating and nurturing leaders of institutions and entrepreneurial organisations and supporting them in their efforts to groom high-quality talent and create value. Our focus is not only on promoting excellence by conducting cutting-edge research; fostering distinctive and impactful teaching; and enabling meaningful contribution to knowledge-creation in a variety of disciplines, but also ensuring that students are motivated through engaged faculty, collaborative learning environment, diverse activities, and professional development opportunities.”

Speaking to the graduating students he said, “Always remember that you are now part of the illustrious network of IIM Ahmedabad alumni who have made a mark across various walks of life. Stay connected and support each other, and remember that together, the world is your oyster, you can achieve anything that you wish for.”

A total of 597 students graduated from IIMA this year, with 380 from the Two Year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP); 48 from the Two Year Post Graduate Programme in Food and Agribusiness Management (PGP-FABM); 140 from One Year Post Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX) and 29 from the Ph.D. Programme in Management (Ph.D). All of them received their graduation certificates from the Chairman. The gold medallists were felicitated by the Chief Guest.

Three students from PGP, one from PGP - FABM, and one student from PGPX were awarded gold medals in recognition of their academic accomplishments.

The academic year 2022 -2023 saw the campus come back to life as we witnessed a complete revival of student-led activities including festival celebrations, sports tournaments, speaker sessions and knowledge events. Students have been participating in both on- campus and off campus activities.

This year too, IIMA had a successful placement season with students across PGP, PGP – FABM and PGPX receiving offers from leading companies from diverse sectors. The performance of our alumni has continued to build trust among recruiters, who have been returning to the campus each year and hiring our students for a variety of roles across sectors.

The ceremony concluded with the Chairperson declaring the convocation closed. As the ceremony concluded, students went to meet their families and friends one last time until they meet again as IIMA alumni. With the passing out of these batches the IIMA alumni network now stands at 41,875, which is spread across the world.

Even as the Convocation concluded, the IIMA is preparing to welcome the PGPX Class of 2023-2024 later in April and the PGP and PGP - FABM classes in June 2023.