Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has signed an MoU with professors Soumitra Dutta and Lourdes Casanova for the constitution of “The Soumitra Dutta Chair in Artificial Intelligence”. The two academicians have pledged a support of Rs. 1 crore for the purpose.
Soumitra Dutta, after whom the Chair is named, is a notable alumnus of IIT Delhi. Prof. Dutta is also theFounding Dean of Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University,New York.
It is anticipated that this new addition to the institution will promote excellence and leadership in teaching, research and development in the field of artificial intelligence and to facilitate wider and deeper interaction between the industry and IIT Delhi students.
“I am very grateful to faculty of IIT Delhi for the valuable education they provided to me and I am glad to contribute to the future academic excellence of IIT Delhi,” Prof Dutta said.
IT-Delhi director V. Ramgopal Rao commended the contribution by both of them as testimony to the “excellent relationship” the institute has with its alumni.
“In the form of such contributions, the Institute aims to obtain support for Scholarships, Student/Faculty Fellowships/Awards, Chair Professorships, Infrastructural development, Endowment funds and for any other cause that might increase its pursuit of excellence. These contributions give an opportunity to the alumni to re-engage with their alma mater. They had been a part of the Institute many years ago as students and now they are contributing to the growth of the Institute,” said Prof Sanjeev Sanghi, Dean, Alumni Affairs & International Programmes.
Lourdes Casanova, an eminent academician working at Cornell University, said, “The chair recognizes the important role of artificial intelligence in shaping the future of India and supports the aspirations of IIT Delhi for leadership in this important domain.”
Prof Dutta received a B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1985 from IIT Delhi and earned a Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of California in Berkeley.
He is an authority on the impact of new technology on the business world with a special focus on strategies for driving growth and innovation in the digital economy.
Prof Dutta is famous for being the architect of the Global Innovation Index, which now serves as the global standard among innovation indices.