Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, and his wife, Anjali Pichai, were recently recognized with prestigious awards by their alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. The awards ceremony took place last week in San Francisco, where Sundar Pichai was conferred an honorary Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree, and Anjali Pichai received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Anjali Pichai, who graduated with honors in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1993, was celebrated for her achievements. Sundar Pichai, reflecting on the significance of his honorary doctorate, shared two photos from the event on Instagram. He expressed his gratitude, stating, “Last week, I had the honor of receiving an honorary doctorate from my alma mater, IIT Kharagpur. My parents always hoped I would earn a doctorate, so I think an honorary one still counts.”
In his post, Pichai also highlighted the role IIT Kharagpur played in shaping his career. “The education and technological opportunities at IIT set me on the path to Google and helped me work towards making technology more accessible. As AI continues to advance, IIT’s role in technology will only grow more critical, and I will always be thankful for my time there,” he wrote.
The shared photos feature Pichai receiving his award and engaging with IIT Kharagpur officials who had traveled to San Francisco for the ceremony.
IIT Kharagpur noted that Pichai was honored with the doctorate in recognition of his “contributions to digital transformation, affordable technology, and groundbreaking innovations.” Although he was unable to attend the 69th Convocation of IIT-Kharagpur in December, where the degree was awarded in absentia by President Droupadi Murmu, the institute organized a special ceremony for him on July 23 in San Francisco.
Pichai, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur with a degree in metallurgical engineering, furthered his education with a master’s degree in materials science and engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was honored as a Siebel Scholar and Palmer Scholar. After a period at McKinsey, he joined Google in 2004, where he played a pivotal role in the development of major products such as Chrome, Chrome OS, Google Drive, and contributed significantly to Google Maps and Android. Pichai was appointed CEO of Google in August 2015.
