Chicago: Telecom technoczar Sam Pitroda, who
is also the advisor to Prime Minister on infrastructure and innovation, has been selected for honorary doctorate in Human Letters by the University of Illinois.
The University bestows honorary degrees on individuals
who have performed exemplary service in ways that are viewed
as an extension of their own mission and dedication to
teaching, service and research.
Pitroda will receive the degree at the commencement of
the University of Illinois College of Medicine on May 7, 2010.
Pitroda, who is popularly known as the father of India's
telecom revolution, has been a communication entrepreneur and
is widely known for bringing telephone service in the 1980's
to far-flung areas of the country.
He was the first chairman of the Telecom Commission and
served in a variety of Indian Government advisory positions to
implement health-related projects in sanitation, clean water,
shelter, food and immunisation.
Holder of several patents, Pitroda is a leader in digital
switching and mobile phone technology. His invention of the
"Electronic Diary", in 1975, was one of the first hand-held
computing devices.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 15:12