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The first convocation of the Chennai
Mathematical Institute (CMI), after it was accorded the status
of a university, was chaired in Chennai on August 4, 2007, by
Prof S K Joshi, former director-general of CSIR, while the chief
guest was S Ramadorai, chief executive officer and managing
director of Tata Consultancy Services. The convocation address
was delivered by Prof R P Bambah, former Vice-Chancellor and
Professor Emeritus, Punjab University.
Ramadorai stressed the increasing importance
of mathematics in all areas of business, and the need to revamp
India's higher education system to more effectively meet the
country's requirements for scientifically trained manpower.
Prof C S Seshadri, the director of CMI, spoke
about the vision of the institute.
At the convocation, 23 students graduated
from CMI with B.Sc. (Honours) and M.Sc. degrees. CMI has two
B.Sc. (Honours) streams: an integrated course in Mathematics and
Computer Science and a course in Physics. In addition, CMI also
has M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes in Mathematics and Computer
Science.
Arul Shankar, the top-ranking student of
B.Sc. (Honours) in Mathematics and Computer Science was awarded
The CMI Gold Medal of Excellence.The corresponding Gold Medal in
Physics was awarded to Pramod Padmanabhan.
Prof Seshadri said CMI's graduates have been placed in the best
universities throughout the world. This year's graduates were
joining universities such as Princeton, Chicago and MIT, as well
as other prestigious institutions in Europe and India. CMI
graduates have also been offered placement in leading software
companies.
The Chennai Mathematical Institute was
founded in 1989 by A C Muthiah as part of the SPIC Science
Foundation. Since 1996, it has been an autonomous institute. The
research groups in Mathematics and Computer Science at CMI are
among the best known in the country. The institute has nurtured
an impressive collection of Ph.D. students. Members of CMI
maintain active research collaborations with leading research
institutes throughout the world. CMI also attracts eminent
visiting scholars from around the world.
CMI took an innovative step in 1998 by
initiating a high quality undergraduate teaching programme in
mathematical sciences. Students are chosen by an entrance
examination held at centres all over India. The courses are
conducted by active research faculty who present the material
they teach from fresh perspectives. This gets students involved
in the process of discovery and opens the eyes of bright young
minds to the joy of mathematics and related sciences. The
teaching programme at CMI has benefited greatly from the active
participation of faculty from the Institute of Mathematical
Sciences, Chennai and other premier research institutions in
India.
Initially, the degrees for CMI's teaching
programme were granted through the Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open
University. In December 2006, CMI was recognised as a university
under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. From this year, CMI will
award its own degrees.
CMI is an outstanding example of
public-private partnership in academic research and teaching.
CMI's programmes receive substantial funding from the National
Board for Higher Mathematics, an agency under the Department of
Atomic Energy. CMI has always attracted substantial private
funding. For the first 10 years of its existence, the institute
was fully funded by SPIC (Southern Petrochemical Industries
Corporation). In recent years, generous contributions have come
from the Shriram Group Companies, Matrix Laboratories of
Hyderabad, the Chennai Willingdon Trust and the Infosys
Foundation. In particular, CMI's new campus at Siruseri has been
entirely built with private funding. R Rangaraj
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