Orissa governor M.C Bhandare awarded degrees to 1,555 graduates of 2010 batch of KIIT University at the sixth annual convocation of the university here today. In addition, the university conferred Ph.D. to ten candidates and D.Litt to one.
KIIT University conferred degrees of Doctorate (Honoris Causa) to six distinguished personalities from various walks of life. Honorary D.Litt was conferred on Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, state finance minister, Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, noted social activist, Sruti Mohapatra.
Honorary D.Sc. was conferred on Dr V. K. Saraswat, scientific advisor to Defence Minister & Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development, and Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation. The university conferred honorary D.Law on Prof. J. Martin Hunter, Emeritus Professor, Nottingham Trent University.
Addressing the graduating students, governor Bhandare exhorted them to join the task of nation building and secure for India its place of pride among the leaders of the global community. Governor said, continuous value addition has made KIIT, one of the fastest growing universities not only in India but in the world.
Accepting the D.Litt degree, Sheila Dikshit said, KIIT University has become a well known university in a short span of time due to its passionate pursuit of excellence. Dr. Saraswat termed the award as recognition for his team that has contributed immensely in making India self reliant in missile technology.A.Samanta, founder of the university, said, academic value addition has enriched the institution, which also emphasizes on integrating education with human values.
Dr. Hari Gautam, Chancellor, KIIT University and Prof. A. S. Kolaskar, Vice Chancellor, also spoke on the occasion. KIIT University has signed MoU’s with more than 17 Universities from 12 countries in last one year.
Outstanding students were awarded gold and silver medals at the ceremony. Mahmudul Hasan, MTech, Electronics Engineering, and Namrata Kar, BTech, Electronics Engineering, bagged Founder’s Gold Medal for securing highest CGPA among Post Graduate and Under Graduate courses respectively.
