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Speakers
Mr. Bharat Desai is a Kenyan-born Indian American entrepreneur and founder of Syntel. He received his B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India, and his MBA in finance from the University of Michigan. He currently serves as Chairman of Syntel headquartered in Troy, Michigan. He co-founded Syntel in 1980 with his future wife Neerja Sethi, growing it into a leading IT outsourcing giant. Mr. Desai serves on the board of several educational institutions including the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and the Stephen M. Ross School of Biusines at the University of Michigan. Desai has received many awards, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; Michigan Entrepreneur Award, Harvard Business School and Entrepreneur of the Year by USA Today and NASDAQ.
Shri Arun Firodia is the Chairman of Kinetic Group, India, and was awarded Padma Shri in 2013. A distinguished India Institute of Technology, Bombay Alumnus awardee, he developed India's first totally indigenous motorized two-wheeler moped, "Luna," a mass-manufactured, affordable vehicle which revolutionized mobility and promoted economic advancement for the masses. Mr. Firodia was instrumental in automotive supplier development, and set up the new Auto Cluster in Pune, India, which has greatly boosted the Indian auto industry. Among many other honors, he was conferred the MIT Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007, as well as the Helen Keller Award (2004) for his efforts in rehabilitation of lepers, and TERI Corporate Social Responsibility Award (2004-05).
Professor Dr. Dipak C. Jain is the former Dean of Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and INSEAD. Dean Jain's areas of research include the marketing of high-tech products; market segmentation and competitive market structure analysis; cross-cultural issues in global product diffusion; new product diffusion; and forecasting models. He has authored more than 50 articles published in leading academic journals. He obtained his bachelor's degree from Gauhati University, Assam, India, followed by a Ph.D. from University of Texas, Dallas. He serves on the boards of corporations such as Reliance Industries, John Deere, Hartmax, and previously United Airlines.
JAINA Convention 2013
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