Gireesh Jankinath Chair
Mr. Ravindra Nath Akhoury instituted the Gireesh Jankinath Chair in the memory of his late mother. This Chair is open to all the departments of engineering & sciences at IIT Kanpur. Mr. Akhoury (BT/EE/1968) was the Chairman & CEO of MacKay Shields, a multimillion product investment management firm. Known for his investment management business skills, Mr. Akhoury worked with high-ranking multinational corporations such as Fischer, Francis, Trees & Watts, and Equitable Life as Vice-President. After obtaining a B.Tech degree from IITK, Mr. Akhoury obtained an MS in Quantitative Methods from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Current Occupant
Prof. Arjun Bagchi
(Sep. 2025 - Sep. 2028)
Prof. Arjun Bagchi from the Department of Physics, IIT Kanpur, has research interests in understanding the holographic principle through gauge/gravity duality. He received his master's degree from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, and his Ph.D. from the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is a recipient of the Fulbright Research Award and the Lise Meitner Award.
Former Occupant
Prof. Kallol Mondal
(Apr. 2022 - Apr. 2025)
Prof. Kallol Mondal, Department of Material Science and Engineering, research interest lies in Physical Metallurgy, Corrosion and Oxidation of Metals and Alloys and thermodynamics of Glassy alloys. He has been actively involved in developing improved steels for rails and clips for Indian Rail. He is a recipient of P. K. Kelkar Young Faculty Research Fellowship, Satish Chandra Agarwal Chair at IIT Kanpur and Mascot National Award by Electrochemical Society of India. He earned his doctorate in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2005.