IIT Madras alumnus Sunil Wadhwani gifts Rs 110 crore for Data Science and AI school

Sunil Wadhwani addressing a gathering at IIT Madras

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) alumnus Sunil Wadhwani announced on January 30 an endowment of Rs 110 crore to set up the Wadhwani School of Data Science and artificial intelligence (AI) in the college.

The school will aim to advise the Government and policymakers on data science and AI-related policy areas, IIT Madras said in a release.

Wadhwani is also the co-founder of US-based IT services companies IGATE and Mastech Digital.

Wadhwani’s gift to IIT Madras is being touted as one of the largest gifts given by an alumnus to create a school at an educational institution in India.

Wadhwani joins the likes of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani who donated Rs 315 crore to IIT Bombay and the 1998 batch of IIT Bombay which donated Rs 57 crore to their alma mater.

Nilekani joined IIT Bombay in 1973 for a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.

In 2014, another Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan donated Rs 225 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru to set up a Centre for Brain Research and Rs 60 crore to IIT-Madras towards scientific research.

This trend of large donation by alumnus mirrors that in the US where the likes of Rockefeller University and Carnegie Mellon University received huge endowments giving them a fillip.

Admissions will commence in July, 2024, for various undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI. The school will also run a joint masters degree in Data Science and AI with the University of Birmingham, U.K.

V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said the need for a school for Data Science and AI is critical with the advent of Industry 4.0 wherein AI and Data Science are the main movers. "IIT Madras has started this highly interdisciplinary school involving faculty from many departments joining hands to work on niche areas, including Responsible AI,"  Kamakoti was quoted as saying in the release.

Sunil Wadhwani said he sees a strong need for a dedicated Data Science and AI school focusing on foundational and applied research. "With the advancements in science and technology, India holds immense potential and can be a world leader in AI and allied sciences," Wadhwani said.