IIT KGP has set the precedent by encouraging the next generation of IITian alumni donate to their parents’ alma mater. Shion Deysarkar, the scion of IIT KGP alumni and US-based entrepreneurs Dr. Asoke Deysarkar and Dr. Ruma Acharya Deysarkar, has signed a MoU to create a Chair Professorship endowment for an amount of USD 300,000/ i.e. about Rs. 2 crore at IIT KGP’s Asoke Deysarkar and Ruma Acharya Centre of Excellence in Petroleum Engineering.
 
“Shion and I discussed about exciting the children of our alumni and encourage them to think about IIT Kharagpur. This is very unique for us and maintaining our legacy of being the first in several initiatives such as management, law, quality, happiness, superspecialty hospital, microspecialization etc.” said Prof. Chakrabarti.
                                                                                                                                       
“I am American by birth and upbringing. My parents have given me a lot of things and it is difficult for a child to give his parents back something.  I see this opportunity as a small way to help my parents continue their work at IIT KGP and carry on their legacy. It is also an interesting way to see how we can marry Indian academic culture with American sensibilities and where it takes us going forward, whether we can create mutual beneficiaries from both these cultures” said Shion Deysarkar who is a data scientist from Carnegie Mellon University and CEO & Founder of Datafiniti.
 
The funding will be utilized towards setting up three Chair Professorships in the domains of Geology & Geophysics, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry/Mining Engineering. The Chair Professors will be paid a top up of Rs. 25,000/- per month and operate as per Institute approved norms of Chair Professorships.
 
Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay, who has just taken over as the Dean of Alumni Affairs, calls it a historic day for IITs. “This will set the ball rolling and there would be many more events happening where the next generation of the alumni would donate to the alma mater of their parents” he remarked.
 
Prof. Anindya Sarkar who is heading the Centre emphasized on the importance of involvement of family and bonding with the IIT system in the giving back and engagement activities of alumni which he hopes would take Indian higher educational institutions far ahead. At his Centre, with all-round support from the Deysarkar family he is already working on projects which would facilitate the industrial needs in India and the need for competent manpower for the global petroleum exploration and production industry.
 
Dr. Asoke Deysarkar who was present on the occasion said, “I wanted to see my son get involved in the activities related to the Centre. I am proud of the state the Centre has achieved from nothing to what it is now after 2 years’ time. Anindya did an incredible job. I would encourage fresh thinking, we Indians are pretty good ourselves and we should get into root work rather than transitional and translational work. This should also impact the lives of the poor people of India.”