City engineer to head Illinois Institute of Tech

City engineer to head Illinois Institute of Tech

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:18.06.2021

Rajagopal Echambadi, an engineering and MBA graduate from Anna University’s College of Engineering, Guindy, has been appointed as the president of 131-year-old Illinois Institute of Technology in the US. He will be take charge on August 16 and will be the first person of colour (and also the first one of Indian origin) to head the only technology-oriented university in Chicago.

Echambadi, 53, is currently working as Dunton Family Dean at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University in Boston.

“The motto of Illinois Institute of Technology is to provide education to students from all backgrounds to prepare them for meaningful roles in industrial society. It is still relevant and we could provide technology education to students from all backgrounds, countries and races to prepare them for the digital era. We will try to make technology education accessible to all,” Rajagopal Echambadi told TOI.

Illinois Institute of Technology has students from all over the world. He also has experience in building entrepreneurial hubs in Indian universities, including Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati.

“I will look to collaborate with Indian institutions such as IITs and Anna University for business and technology innovations,” he said.

Echambadi was born in Tiruvarur and did his schooling in Shrine Vailankanni Senior Secondary School in T Nagar and Santhome Higher Secondary School in Mylapore. He went on to pursue BE Mechanical Engineering in College of Engineering, Guindy, (1985-89) and MBA in (1990-92). He worked in TAFE and Castrol here before moving to the US to get a PhD from University of Houston (1994-98). His mother, Janaki, lives in Chennai.

With an academic career spanning more than two decades, Echambadi has several innovations to his credit including introducing an online MBA programme known as iMBA in partnership with Coursera, which was hailed as a breakthrough in graduate education. He also facilitated student entrepreneurships and social entrepreneurship.

Fellow academician and Echambadi’s school classmate Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, pro vice-chancellor of Krea University, recalls him as a passionate student. “We are from the 1985-batch of Santhome Higher Secondary School. He was always studious and passionate about engineering, he eventually got into Anna University,” said Ramamoorthy, who is a former chairperson and MD of Cognizant India.

“A lot of attention has been given to Indians making big in the corporate sector, such as Indira Nooyi, Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai. But not enough attention is given to people who have achieved in academics globally. Indians at the helm of affairs at illustrious universities globally can take academic partnerships to a very different level. They can understand the Indian investment in education and also the value global education brings to Indian students,” Ramamoorthy added.

Rajagopal Echambadi

Born in Tiruvarur and brought up in Chennai, Echambadi, will be the first person of colour to head 131-year-old Illinois Institute of Technology in the US. He pursued mechanical engineering and MBA in College of Engineering, Guindy and holds a PhD from