NEW DELHI: Silicon Valley-based Alumni of IIT Madras, Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayanan have donated $1 million to create a corpus that will fund Visiting Chairs in Computer Science and Engineering to lead research on data-driven approaches to solve important problems. This was announced at the 42nd International Conference on Very Large Data Bases in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The idea is to enhance teaching and research efforts in this area and help attract outstanding young faculty, students, research scholars, and postdocs to the CSE Department at IIT Madras. The initiative has been named “Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman Visiting Chair Program.” The Chair Professor(s) will demonstrate thought leadership in their chosen field and will be expected to significantly impact IIT Madras on research thrusts in allied areas. They will be expected to collaborate extensively with faculty at IIT Madras engaged in aligned research fields and help the institute build capability in this emerging area. The Chair Professor is expected to get involved in various activities, including teaching or co-teaching UG and graduate courses, co-advising IITM students, and assisting in the recruitment of post-doctoral fellows.
