Cornell-in-India and Sathguru Mark a Decade of Excellence

This year, Sathguru Management Consultants marked the decennial of its management development initiative, the Center for Executive Education. The initiative, which began a decade ago with the Food and Agri-Business Program has since evolved to include the Seed Industry Program, Hospitality Management Program, Food Executive Program and various other programs in the life sciences, biotechnology, intellectual property & technology transfer and much more.

This milestone was celebrated at a gala event at the Alice Statler Auditorium on the Cornell Campus at Ithaca, NY on 25 June 2009. In attendance were the participants of AMP 2009, the first batch of participants of the MPS program from India, Cornell students of the IARD program who had visited India and the faculty of the various programs of the CEE initiative. Cornell President David J. Skorton and the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Susan Henry were the guests of honour at the event.

In his opening address, Mr. K. Vijayaraghavan of Sathguru Management Consultants provided a brief history of Sathguru’s partnership with Cornell that began over 15 years ago. The partnership went on to catalyze translational research in public-private partnerships in India. The initiative was soon enlarged to cover other countries in south and south-east Asia.  He acknowledged the more than 50 Cornell faculty who have supported the initiative over the years.

After a short Bharathanatyam performance by Ms. Meena Raj, Prof. Coffman provided an overview of the achievements of the Cornell-Sathguru partnership over the years. He explained how the partnership with Sathguru helped expedite the functioning of various initiatives in India and also expanded to various other countries in South Asia.  

Dean Susan Henry described how the collaboration with Sathguru enabled Cornell to extend its land grant mission to South Asia. She spoke of how the partnership resulted in numerous advances for Indian agriculture and opportunities for faculty and students in the U.S. and India. The strong ties that were forged between Cornell and India's Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in Coimbatore, the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad and the Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University in Hyderabad paved the way for two-way student exchanges as the International Agriculture and Rural Development course. This culminated in the new masters of professional programs in plant breeding and food science, a dual-degree program that brings Indian TNAU students to Cornell.

President Skorton congratulated the initiative on its successes in enhancing the talent pool for management in India and other countries in South Asia. Citing testimonials on how the programs have helped various participants improve not just their careers but also enabled them lead successful projects that have enhanced the value of the companies they work for.

A short commemorative video on the Cornell-in-India CEE initiative and its evolution over the years was screened after which the dignitaries released a special commemorative collectible album entitled International Agriculture and Rural Development: A Unique Educational Odyssey.

The report of the event as it appeared in the Cornell Chronicle may be accessed here:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/June09/Sathguru.html.