The 10th Convocation of Ahmedabad University saw 826 graduates passing out from the batch of 2020. K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, delivered the convocation address to the graduating students of the Class of 2020 at Ahmedabad University. The event took place virtually on Sunday with active participation of students, parents, Chancellor Sanjay Lal Bhai, Vice Chancellor Pankaj Chandra along with all the Deans and faculty of Ahmedabad University.
The graduating batch of 2020 had 608 students from Amrut Mody School of Management, 132 students from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, 50 students from the School of Arts and Sciences, and 36 students from the School of Computer Studies. This includes four doctoral students two each from life sciences and engineering.
In his address, Reddy stresses upon the need to come together to build a robust public health service system which can provide good health to every individual across their entire life course He reiterated on the need to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, resolute in our commitment to reset the coordinates of our development.
"'Build back better' is the slogan of our times. That resolve must endure and not be ephemeral," Reddy said. "Even in public health, as in education and research it is necessary to create a confluence of life sciences, of quantitative sciences, of social and behavioural sciences and health systems sciences including health technologies and health management," he added.
Reddy also reiterated the interdisciplinary nature of education that is required now as we embark to find solutions to complex issues the world is facing. He said that all of them need to come together even if they are being taught as separate disciplines at different institutions. "They need to come together to build a robust public health service system which can provide good health to every individual across their entire life course," he added.
Ahmedabad University's Chancellor Sanjay Lalbhai was pragmatic about the new and emerging opportunities in the field of healthcare, education, technology and in new areas of sustainability. He emphasized on the well-rounded learning roles for the student, strongly backed by data science and knowledge that would allow them to explore through developmental domains and emerge in complex environments as leaders in their fields.
Pankaj Chandra, Vice Chancellor, Ahmedabad University, said that the academic year 2019 has been a significant landmark for the University. "We introduced our new undergraduate curriculum, admitted the inaugural class to our Liberal Arts programme (the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science), and launched a distinctive engineering curriculum. Competitive research grants won by faculty from agencies within the country and globally grew significantly this year. The faculty organised the Annual Economics Conference and the Seventh International Conference on Big Data Analytics, and our students secured admission in top institutions like LSE, University of Texas, IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata," Chandra said.
