Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) founder and chairman Dhirubhai Ambani was awarded the prestigous the Dean's medal by the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) at a glittering ceremony in Mumbai yesterday.
Ambani, while accepting the medal, said, ``You gave me credit for what we have achieved. I am grateful for your generosity. If one Dhirubhai can do so much just think what a thousand Dhirubhais can do for this country. There are easily one thousand Dhirubhais if not more. They are raring to join the race compete with the world and make India an economic superpower. ''.
Ambani said during the past 20 years he has been part of the exciting process called the Reliance process which has created wealth for 5 million Indian families and has brought prosperity and well being to millions of men and women,``It has brought dramatic improvement in the quality of their lives. It is this feeling that gives me the greatest satisfaction in life''.
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Ambani also exhorted the youth not to accept defeat and said ``Here is the son of the school teacher from a remote Indian village receiving this medal''. Thomas P Gerrity, dean of the Wharton School who presented the medal to Ambani recalled Ambanis' rise from a humble job in the port of Eden in Yemen to one of world's leading industrialist.
Gerrity said that he helped mobilise the virtually untapped Indian capital market and said that Reliance's market capitalisation had appreciated 2,000 per cent since it went public two decades ago. The function was attended by galaxy of celebrities from all walks of lives. Prominent amongst them was the former prime minister HD Devi Gowda, former finance minister P Chidambaram, and Pranab Mukherjee, Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi, and union minister Murli Manohar Joshi, film actors Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna, Congress (I) leaders like Murli Deora, Sharad Pawar, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh and former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Dean's medal which was created in 1983 is to recognise outstanding leaders of private enterprise, public service and academia.
The awardee are chosen for their contribution to the expansion of global economy and to the improvement in the lives of people worldwide.
The Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi announced that land would be given in Mumbai for a world class business school.
Chidambaram said that he was a person who was often accused of dreaming but if their was one person who dreamt the most was Dhirubhai Ambani.
While Murli Manohar Joshi said `` Ambani's success epitomised what Indians can achieve in face of international competition.''