XLRI Celebrates 64th Annual Convocation

XLRI confers ‘Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial Peace’ on Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

New Delhi,22^nd February 2021:  XLRI– Xavier School of Management, one of India’s premier B-Schools, celebrated its 64^th Annual Convocation. The first-ever virtual Convocation ceremony was held to bid a final farewell to the 2018-20 batch.

Mr. Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, graced the convocation ceremony as the chief guest. Mr. T. V. Narendran, Chairman, Board of Governors at XLRI & MD - Tata Steel India and South East Asia, Fr. P. Christie. S.J., Director of XLRI, Dr. Ashis K. Pani, Dean, Academics at XLRI, graduating students, and their parents connected virtually.

On this significant day, 527 XLRI students virtually received their graduating certificates and medals, including – 182 & 180 students of Postgraduate Programmes in Management - BM, and HRM; 104  students of 15-months PGDM (General Management) Program; 13 students of Fellow Program in Management (FPM) and  48 students of  the 2017–2020 batch of  PGDM-BM Programme (Evening).

The first five rank holders in the Two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management (HRM) 2018-20 batch are Abhishek Goyal, Subham Agarwal, Urmi Arora, Aditya Kompella, and Sana Azeem, respectively.

The first five rank holders in the Two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management (BM) 2018-20 batch are Utkarsh Bahuguna, B Raja Reddy, Madhavi Gupta, Srenevasan M N, and  Geetanshu Sethi, respectively.

The first five rank holders in the Postgraduate Diploma in General Management (GM) – 15 -Months Programme 2018-19 batch are Arijit Kar, Aditi Raina, Satish Kumar, Manav Bhargava, and Zafar Ali Kanchwala, respectively.

The first five rank holders in the Three-Year Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management – Evening Programme 2017 - 20 batch are Korivi Sravan Kumar, Poornima Radhakrishnan, Randeep Singh, Rahul Sharma, and Anubha Priya, respectively.

Congratulating the students on their graduation day, Mr. T. V. Narendran, Chairman, Board of Governors, XLRI, said, “As you join the remarkable network of XLRI alumni; let the valuable education that has been imparted to you in the preceding two years, be a guiding force to help enable you to make this world more sustainable and livable for future generations. I urge you to espouse a professional and ethical attitude in your work-life journey and try to give back to society to the extent possible.”

Fr. P Christie S.J., Director, XLRI, congratulated the graduating students and advised them to uphold the values they have imbibed at XLRI – to be responsible leaders who are extraordinary professionals with a sensitive conscience. In his address, he said, “It is indeed my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all of you. This convocation was scheduled to be held on March 21st, 2020 nearly a year ago, but due to COVID lockdown, we had to cancel the event at the last moment. Though we would have been delighted to see all of you on the campus witnessing the graduates receiving your medals and diplomas physically during these circumstances, we opted for a virtual convocation.  We are proud of your achievements and brilliant accomplishments, my heartfelt appreciation to the faculty and staff of XLRI for assisting you on your academic journey.  We had a successful year in 2019-20, and it is the result of our teamwork and our determination to take this institution forward and make it globally renowned and a top-ranked Business School in the country.” 

This year XLRI conferred the prestigious ‘Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial Peace’ on Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. He also delivered the Convocation Address.

Father Christie further added, "Sanjiv Mehta is an exceptional corporate leader, whose vision, innovativeness, and commitment to compassionate capitalism has taken Unilever to prodigious heights both in India and worldwide. In appreciation of his outstanding leadership, XLRI feels proud to present the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace to Shri Sanjiv Mehta and to champion him as an inspirational corporate leader who has propelled Hindustan Unilever towards excellence and buttressed it to become India’s largest FMCG organization.”

Accepting the medal, Mr. Mehta said, “I would like to express my gratitude to the governing board of XLRI for bestowing on me the prestigious Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial Peace. It is a big honor and a great privilege to receive this medal.”

Delivering the convocation speech to the graduating students, he said, “I am delighted and deeply honored to be with you today. My heartiest congratulations to the graduating class. This is a day of celebration; this is a moment of pride and high emotion and joy for all of you, who are at the threshold of realizing your aspiration and potential. Today marks a new beginning when you are moving out to face the real world's ups and downs. You have the potential to change the world, go for knowledge and experience, and don’t get daunted by the challenges. Tomorrow when you start your life outside this institute, you will travel to different parts of the world and work with diverse people, embrace diversity and inclusiveness. The only way to stay ahead is to constantly evolve and stay relevant in the rapidly changing world and be a student all your life. If you don’t keep learning and reinventing yourself, how will you reinvent the businesses you lead? Agility and adaptability are the two important traits of successful leaders, especially during turbulent times. The pandemic taught us that we need to stay alert and responsive and adapt to the changing conditions. The past few months also reminded us of the need for compassion and kindness. The degrees you have earned are not the passports to a fulfilling life but should be treated as a call to action as you get set to seize the opportunity with your wisdom. You have been entrusted with the responsibility of making the world a much better place to live in.”

He also emphasized that humility coupled with ambition became a prudent combination and elaborated, “Ambition can literally help you fly and achieve your dreams. When you have ambition, you are not limited by resources. Ambition is the single most important ingredient for success as it overrides both talent and resources. Ambition can lead you to try regardless of what life puts in front of you.  In life, as you grow and prosper, it is essential to stay rooted to remain humble. While ambition gives you wings to fly, humility gets you grounded, ensuring you never lose touch with yourself. As you grow professionally, you may become vulnerable to play down your roots. Putting yourself out there can be tough, and remaining authentic can be tougher, but don’t back off. I want to urge all of you to remain authentic to stay the real you and remain true to your roots, as each of you is unique, and there is always beauty and strength in originality”.

Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace, instituted by XLRI in 1966, in honor of the Late Sir Jehangir Ghandy, former Chairman of the Board of Governors- XLRI is awarded to Heroic Leaders who have contributed towards the growth of their respective organizations and also impacted the growth of our nation in a significant way. The medal was instituted by XLRI in gratitude for Sir Jehangir Ghandy’s yeoman contribution to XLRI and the society at large. One of the oldest medals instituted by a higher education institution, the medal is awarded during XLRI’s Annual Convocation Ceremony to recognize outstanding contributions in the field of industrial and social peace in the country. In the past years, the medal was conferred on eminent business leaders like Mr. N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd. in 2012, Mr. Shiv Nadar, Founder & Chairman, HCL and Shiv Nadar Foundation in 2013, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India in 2014, Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & CEO, TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited) in 2015, Dr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Jt. Managing Director of Hero MotoCorp & Chairman, Hero Corporate Services Pvt. Ltd. in 2016, Mr. Adi Godrej, Chairman, The Godrej Group in 2017, Mr. TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education and Aarin Capital & President of AIMA in 2018 and Ms. Anu Aga, Former Chairperson of Thermax Ltd in 2019.

About XLRI:

XLRI-Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur is a premier, private management institute in India founded in 1949 by Fr Quinn Enright, S.J. in the ‘steel city’ Jamshedpur (www.xlri.ac.in). Over the last seven decades, the institute has grown into a top-ranking business management school of international repute with a wide portfolio of management programs and research publications. Its alumni are spread around the globe and have demonstrated responsible business leadership in their organizations. XLRI continually strives to contribute its mite to the professional growth and management of numerous organizations and institutions across industry sectors. XLRI has been awarded two prestigious International Accreditations, viz., AACSB - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and AMBA - Association of MBAs. XLRI has also earned the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) accreditation.

youtube link of the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J1SY6wusHQ