Archive for July, 2006

Baltimore Architects Hired to Design new Indian University

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

Original: Baltimore Business Journal - July 25, 2006
by Alan Zibel Staff

Baltimore architecture firm Ayers Saint Gross has been selected to design the campus of a new university in eastern India that is being funded with a billion-dollar gift from an Indian businessman.

The university is being funded by Anil Agarwal, chairman of metals and mining company Vedanta Resources Plc. In a statement issued Tuesday, Adam Gross, principal in charge of Ayers Saint Gross, compared Agarwal’s donation to the founding of major American universities such as Stanford and Carnegie Mellon by the business tycoons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Unlike many Indian institutions, which focus on technical skills, Vedanta University will emulate comprehensive American universities with programs in liberal arts, science, engineering, medicine, law, business and performing arts.

“India has the potential to be a global leader in business, technology, science, performing arts and sports,” Agarwal said in the statement. The new university “will make global standards of educational excellence more accessible to the future generations of our country.”

Ayers Saint Gross, which specializes in architecture for college campuses, has performed planning work for universities including University of Virginia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Emory and Carnegie Mellon.

The university plans to start enrolling students in 2008. It is to be located on 8,000 acres of land in the state of Orissa, near Bhubaneswar, that state’s capital.

The Financial Times of London reported July 22 that the university is envisoned to include 100,000 students and a 40,000 person college town. Agarwal divides his time between London and India, the newspaper said.

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Largest Donation ever made to a University

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

Original:  The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 2006

Indian Foundation Will Give $1-Billion to Create a Huge Research University

By SAMANTHA HENIG

In the largest donation ever made to a single higher-education institution, a foundation created by an Indian tycoon has committed $1-billion to establish a large, multidisciplinary research university in the Indian state of Orissa.
 
The institution, to be called Vedanta University, is scheduled to begin enrolling students in 2008, and will model itself after campuses like Stanford University. Its goal is to create an “economic hub” in India comparable to what Stanford has produced in Silicon Valley, according to a release issued on Wednesday by the Anil Agarwal Foundation.

Anil Agarwal, the chairman of Vedanta Resources, a metals and mining company in India, had said in February that he planned to finance an elite institution that would cater to more than 100,000 students. On Wednesday, he formally announced the $1-billion donation, to be given in phases. During a brief ceremony at the State Secretariat in Orissa, he signed a memorandum of understanding with the Orissa government.

The government has identified 8,000 acres of land for the campus and plans to pass specific legislation to give the university complete administrative autonomy, according to a written statement by Werner Kreuz, managing director of A.T. Kearney, Germany, the consulting firm that is handling the project.

That autonomy will set Vedanta University apart from India’s most respected higher-education institutions, such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Management, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the University of Delhi, and the University of Mumbai, all of which are state-run.

Although the country has made public higher education a priority, the existing institutions struggle to accommodate India’s college-bound population, and many within the system criticize universities’ emphasis on rote learning and say they do not adequately prepare graduates for the job market.

Mr. Agarwal has high hopes for Vedanta University’s contribution to higher education in India. “The Vedanta University will make global standards of educational excellence more accessible to future generations of our country, thereby creating tomorrow’s Nobel laureates, Olympic champions, and heads of government and state,” Mr. Agarwal said after Wednesday’s ceremony, according to a news release.

As the university’s enrollment grows past 100,000, it is also likely to absorb a substantial portion of the Indian students who might otherwise have been expected to pursue a higher education abroad. More than 80,000 Indian students came to the United States in 2004-5, representing the largest foreign contingent on American campuses, according to data reported last fall by the Institute of International Education. Substantial numbers of Indian students also study in Australia, Britain, and Canada.

To design the master plan for the university, the Anil Agarwal Foundation has appointed Ayers/Saint/Gross, an architecture firm in Baltimore. The firm has 90 years of experience with higher-education projects, and has designed buildings and facilities at such institutions as Duke University, Georgetown University, and Swarthmore College.
Dhiru Thadani, the project’s lead master planner, said in a written statement that “this is the project that I have been training for all of my life — to apply my 30 years of architecture and planning experience to further develop India as a knowledge economy.”

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Anil Agarwal Foundation signs MOU with Orissa Government

Wednesday, July 19th, 2006

The Anil Agarwal Foundation Announces a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Orissa to Establish Vedanta University
Government of Orissa identifies 8,000 acres of land near the Konark-Puri Marine Drive to set up India’s first world-class, multi-disciplinary university in the state

Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - The Anil Agarwal Foundation–promoted by Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc-today announced that it has chosen Orissa as the location for the world-class, multi-disciplinary Vedanta University. The formal announcement was made here today at a brief ceremony held at the State Secretariat where a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with the Government of Orissa. Mr. Anil Agarwal has committed a personal endowment of USD 1 billion towards the setting up of the Vedanta University.

Mr. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa, who graced the signing ceremony, said, “It is a matter of pride that Vedanta is going to set up a world-class university in India. We are proud that this university is going to be located in Orissa. I hope this university will be the guiding light for thousands of students, both national and international, and will put in motion an immense knowledge revolution in our state.”

Speaking with the media just after the signing ceremony, Mr. Anil Agarwal commented, “India has the potential to be a global leader in business, technology, science, performing arts and sports. The Vedanta University will make global standards of educational excellence more accessible to the future generations of our country thereby creating tomorrow’s Nobel laureates, Olympic champions and heads of government & state. It is my honour and privilege to dedicate the Vedanta University to the people of India”.

Dr. Werner Kreuz, Managing Director of A.T. Kearney, Germany, who are consultants to Vedanta University said, “I am pleased to announce that after careful consideration and an exhaustive search, it has been decided to locate the Vedanta University in the State of Orissa. The Government of Orissa has committed to support and partner with the Vedanta University and it shares our vision of creating a centre of academia that will be amongst the best in the world and the first such university in India. The State Government will pass specific legislation to provide complete administrative autonomy to the Vedanta University. The State Government has identified 8000 acres of land near the Konark-Puri Marine Drive for the campus. The Government will also provide allied infrastructure including an expressway which will connect the campus to Bhubaneswar airport”.

The Vedanta University has appointed the globally acclaimed architecture firm, Ayers Saint Gross to prepare the master plan for the university. This firm has designed some of the best campuses in the world and has 90 years of rich experience with specialization in projects of higher education.

About the Vedanta University

The Vedanta University has been conceived as a world class, multi-disciplinary university. The vision includes the spawning of a research township that grows with the university. Besides serving as a ‘regional economic engine’ the university will set up state-of-the-art infrastructure to drive overall development beyond the academic dimension. The objective is to drive cutting-edge research and produce generations of Indian and global students who will go on to earn laurels in their chosen fields. The Vedanta University, based on a ‘not-for-profit’ philosophy, has been conceived with an autonomous governance structure, made possible by an endowment that provides self-sufficiency.

A university of this stature can have immediate impact on the local economy, by driving significant direct and indirect employment and economic value addition. However, in the longer term, this university will enable the creation of a ‘thriving ecosystem’, in terms of, academia, research, industry and government inter-linkages, resulting in the development of a new ‘economic hub’. Stanford University’s Research Park has spawned more than 1200 companies in the Silicon Valley, with a combined market capitalization of more than USD 300 Billion. The vision of the Vedanta University is to be a similar enabler for India.

The university’s academic and research agenda will reflect its ‘multi-disciplinary’ vision through colleges focusing on a variety of disciplines, including Liberal Arts, Basic Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Business and Performing Arts, as also ‘Centers of Excellence’ for cross-disciplinary research in areas like Agriculture, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, Information and Communication Technology, Health Sciences, Rural Economics and Manufacturing Sciences. The Vedanta University would offer graduate, post-graduate and doctoral programmes with world-renowned faculty and potential Nobel laureates driving the academic and research agenda. At the core will be a high calibre, globally diversified student body, comprising an equal mix of Indian and international students. It is envisaged that as the university grows, it would also enable the establishment of other R&D centres, knowledge-based industries and start-ups, to create a vibrant, education and research township.

The estimated outlay for developing the university in phases is Rs.15,000 crores. Earlier this year, the Anil Agarwal Foundation had announced an endowment of USD 1 billion for the setting up of the Vedanta University. The university expects to begin enrolling students in 2008.

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