The Smt. Pavitar Joneja Chair will be set up in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department

Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh: Dr Dev Joneja, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, has donated USD 175,000 towards the setting up of Pavitar Joneja Chair in the Humanities and Social Science Department at IIT Kanpur.

This Chair to be set up in honour of his mother, Smt. Pavitar Joneja has been conceptualised to develop new learning paradigms and training methods for dissemination of knowledge by formulating training programs and promote excellence in research and leadership. The broad disciplines identified include English, Fine Arts, Philosophy, Psychology & Sociology and would involve published research work in reputed national and international conferences, journals, articles, books, consultancy projects etc as well. Dr Joneja, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from IITK in 1984, is one of the top benefactors of the Institute over the years. He has already instituted Arjun Dev Joneja Faculty Chair in honour of his father at the Department of Civil Engineering. Dr Dev. Joneja said that “The courses in Humanities and Social Sciences I took at IIT played a much bigger role in my career than I appreciated at the time, and I would like to support this part of every IIT student’s education.”

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur said” The Smt Pavitar Joneja Chair is the apt platform for students aspiring to undertake intensive research and broaden their knowledge on subjects related to Humanities and Social Sciences. Over the years Dr Dev Joneja has made significant contributions towards his Alma Mater.I would like to thank him for selflessly working towards promoting the institute and putting it on the top of academic excellence since several years.”

The Dean of Resources and Alumni, Prof. Jayant K. Singh said, “We are grateful to Mr. Joneja for his generosity and for promoting a giving back culture to support excellence at IIT Kanpur.”

Dr. Dev Joneja has also generously donated towards Class of 1984 Chair, Campus workers of IITK and towards online education during the pandemic thereby benefitting under privileged students of IIT Kanpur.

He currently serves as the Chief Risk Officer at Exodus Point Capital Management. Dr. Joneja has previously served as the Global Head Risk and Analytics at Millennium Management LLC. Prior to joining the firm in 2009, Dr Joneja was at Lehman Brothers for 13 years, and served as the Head of European Fixed Income Research and as the Global Head of Lehman Indices and Point. He has also served on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University in New York.