Bhubaneswar, Dec. 24 : Prof. (Dr.) Manojranjan Nayak, Founder President of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) was on Saturday conferred with the prestigious Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kharagpur for 2022.
The award was conferred on Prof. (Dr.) Nayak in absentia at IIT Kharagpur’s 68th convocation ceremony. Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor of SOA Deemed to be University received the award on behalf of Prof. (Dr.) Nayak.
“As your Alma Mater, the institute applauds and takes great pride to bestow this honour in recognition of your professional achievements that made significant contributions in various fields of academia and research, industries, community-society and the institute at large,” a communication received by Prof. (Dr.) Nayak from IIT Kharagpur said.
A teacher-turned-edupreneur, Prof. (Dr.) Nayak, graduated in electrical engineering from the Regional Engineering College (presently NIT) at Rourkela and completed M.Tech in Computer Science from IIT, Kharagpur. He obtained his doctorate from the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar.
Prof. (Dr.) Nayak had also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from NIT, Rourkela earlier.
After working as a Professor in OUAT, he floated SOA and has set up ten institutions of professional learning in Bhubaneswar. The institutes, which operate under the SOA Deemed to be University umbrella have been imparting education in engineering and technology, medical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, dental sciences, management sciences, hospitality and tourism management, nursing, legal studies, agricultural sciences and veterinary sciences and animal husbandry.
Around 15,000 students study in SOA including from foreign countries. The Deemed to be University was ranked 16th in the country in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2022.