IIT (BHU) Varanasi presents Distinguished Alumnus Award to Dr. Manu Vora

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Dr. Manu K. Vora received the Distinguished Alumnus Award (DAA) in Public Life (Social Work) from his alma mater IIT (BHU) Varanasi, October 6, 2023, at the 12th Convocation of IIT (BHU), Varanasi, India.

He earned his B. Tech. (Honours) in Chemical Engineering from IIT (BHU), Varanasi in 1968. He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago in 1970 and 1975. He holds an MBA with Marketing Management from Keller GSM, Chicago in 1985. He was appointed Fulbright Specialist by the U. S. Department of State for 2016-2023.

To date, he is a recipient of 60 awards/honors for his professional contributions and 40 awards/honors for his life-long community service.

In the US since 1968, as a social worker he is positively impacting the lives of Indian people for 53 years. He has a dual mission to Empower Students and Professionals through Soft Skills Programs (SSP) and to reduce Blindness.

He has contributed to India’s NEP 2020 Implementation Plan at AICTE, delivered 48 ATAL FDP sessions benefiting 10,000 faculty, peer reviewed 68 ATAL FDPs, and facilitated improved teaching-learning processes through innovative pedagogy and continuous assessments at ATAL Academy. His NEP 2020 guidance impacted HEIs in 7 States and 2 UTs and SSP project benefited HEIs by imparting job-readiness skills in 20 States and 4 UTs of India impacting over 1.2 million people.

He founded the Blind Foundation for India, USA in 1989, which has helped more than 2 million blind adults and children in India, his press release says. His team has raised over $6 million for prevention, cure, education, and rehabilitation of blind people.

Since 1970, he led major efforts in the USA to assist Bangladeshi Refugees in India during the India-Pakistan War in 1971, fresh drinking water project during a severe draught in 1973, and supporting Seth G. S. Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai from 2000-2010. He has raised over $12 million for charitable causes, the press release said.

He has guided Fortune 500 companies with the U.S. Baldrige Excellence Framework. He was a Chief Judge for the Illinois Team Excellence Award Program, 1993-1999 and a Senior Examiner for the Asia Pacific Global Performance Excellence Award Program, 2004-2017. He has 1,280 global presentations, published 75 scholarly articles, and written 50 blog posts on quality management. Since 2006, he has contributed at prestigious Indian institutes including IITs, IIIT, IIM, and NITs.

At IIT (BHU) in collaboration with TPC, he delivered 2 rounds of Soft Skills Program benefiting 800 students from 2014-2020. In 2022, in the 3^rd round of SSP over 91,000 people throughout India benefited with support from AICTE. In 2023, he delivered SSP at VMSBUTU, Dehradun, Uttarakhand benefiting over 2,900 people. Between 2017-2019, he delivered 130 sessions on HR Excellence to 500 mid to senior level executives of BSNL. He served on the IBGAA Global Alumni Meet Organizing Teams in the US for 2011, 2012, 2013, and in 2014, when he was the Chair of the Meet.