Last modified: Tuesday, August 23, 2011
IU President Michael A. McRobbie to visit India
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 23, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie, Vice President for International Affairs David Zaret and Professor Sumit Ganguly, the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, will visit India for an 11-day trip beginning Aug. 27.
The visit, the first to India by a sitting IU president in at least 40 years, will result in new academic partnerships that will increase study abroad opportunities in India for IU students and help attract more top Indian students to the university.
The visit will include stops in Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Hyderabad, which is a sister city to Indianapolis, to meet with leading university officials, business executives, political leaders and alumni. While there, McRobbie also will explore new private/public research collaborations and meet with Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari.
"This trip to India is very important to the university as we continue to raise our international profile and prepare students to become leaders in an increasingly global society," McRobbie said. "As home to some excellent universities, and one of the world's most dynamic, growing economies, India is fertile ground for IU as we look to provide expanded study abroad opportunities for our students and to attract the best students from around the world to IU. It also provides us a rare opportunity to meet with our alumni in India who provide us with invaluable support."
Indian nationals make up the third-largest group of international students at IU, with approximately 800 students attending IU, including about 165 new students entering this fall. The university also has approximately 2,100 alumni who are Indian citizens, including 400 living in India. During the trip, McRobbie will help launch IU's newest alumni chapter in New Delhi.
McRobbie also will seek to strengthen business ties between India and the state of Indiana, building on a visit to India this spring by Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) leaders.
Business highlights of the trip will include a luncheon with members of the Confederation of India Industry (CII), the largest business trade group in India, at which McRobbie will be the keynote speaker. McRobbie also will sign a memorandum of understanding between IU and the CII that will result in increased collaboration on training, research and education-related activities.
"The state of Indiana, which already has large companies such as Cummins and Eli Lilly firmly established in India, provides an attractive climate for Indian businesses looking to locate operations in the United States," McRobbie said. "We hope to build on the work done by the IEDC earlier this year by promoting the state and all it has to offer to our academic and business partners in India."
Indiana Secretary of Commerce and IEDC Chief Executive Officer Mitch Roob said he hopes the IU trip will add to the momentum the state is trying to generate with Indian firms to bring jobs to the state.
"India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the IEDC trip earlier this year helped Hoosiers lay the groundwork to strengthen our economic ties with Indian companies," Roob said. "We look forward to the opportunities that Indiana University's trip will cultivate as Hoosiers continue to seek new, mutually-beneficial investment opportunities with India."
In addition, IU has approximately 100 Indian faculty members and a well-established India Studies Program. Professor Ganguly is widely known in India and will speak at the Aspen Institute of India during the upcoming visit.
Selected highlights of the IU Presidential visit to India:
- Aug. 27 (Mumbai) -- Reception with alumni sponsored by the Indiana University Alumni Association.
- Aug. 29 (Bangalore) -- Meeting with Indian Institute of Science to explore potential collaborations in physics, chemistry and biology.
- Aug. 30 (Bangalore) -- Visit Infosys, a large technology provider whose Indiana-based clients include Anthem, Cummins and Lilly.
- Aug. 31 (New Delhi) -- Meetings with Indian Institute of Management (IIM); signing of two MOUs between IU Kelley School of Business and IIM.
- Sept. 1 (New Delhi) -- Briefing at U.S. Embassy; lecture by Professor Ganguly at Aspen Institute India.
- Sept. 2 (New Delhi) -- Meeting with Indian Vice President Shri M. Hamid Ansari; IU President McRobbie to address the CII; opening of the joint IU-OP Jindal Global University conference.
- Sept. 3 (Sonipat/New Delhi) -- Visit to OP Jindal (Sonipat); IU alumni reception (New Delhi)
- Sept. 5 (Hyderabad) -- Visit to University of Hyderabad, signing of MOU on behalf of IU-Bloomington and IUPUI. Hyderabad is a sister city to Indianapolis.
- Sept. 6 (Hyderabad ) -- Visit to Administrative Staff College of India to discuss potential partnership with IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs; meeting with mayor of Hyderabad.
Daily blog entries and regular audio reports with President McRobbie and others will be made available periodically in the IU Newsroom section of IU's gateway web site, https://www.iu.edu.
