Professor Siddhartha Saxena of Ahmedabad University has been honoured with the prestigious 2020 Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute, Washington. Saxena's course, 'Future of Work', is one of the nine courses selected from worldwide entries, that responded to the global crises of 2020 by innovating in form and content -- and suggest a new way forward for business, as society calls to rebuild. Saxena teaches at the Amrut Mody School of Management at Ahmedabad University.
This is the first award, ever, to an academic in Asia and the only one from India. The other awardees are from The Wharton School, The Ross School of University of Michigan, INSEAD, The Rotman School of University of Toronto, and Universities of Linz, Innsbruck, Auckland University of Technology, Arizona State and San Francisco State.
The Aspen Institute's Business & Society Program recognizes nine exceptional courses and the faculty who teach them with the 2020 Ideas Worth Teaching Award. This award honours faculty who are redefining business education -- providing learning experiences that equip managers of tomorrow with the context, skills and decision-making capabilities needed to lead in an increasingly complex business environment -- and the world.
Professor Pankaj Chandra, Vice Chancellor Ahmedabad University congratulating Professor Saxena on this award, said, "The world is facing complex challenges, whether it is climate change or it is a pandemic as of today. Traditional, narrowly focused discipline-based education is inadequate to address these challenges that face the 21st century. We need to rebuild education that brings different systems of knowledge to bear at the same time in addressing these issues.
Siddhartha's course is an important step in that direction that brings interdisciplinary perspectives and skills to address such challenges in the classroom making education real. "With each new headline, 2020 has underscored the need for fresh thinking on issues at the intersection of business and society," said Business & Society Advisor Claire Preisser. Preisser adds: "Whether it's the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic crisis it triggered, or protests for racial justice, this year is an urgent call-to-action to reset business norms so that, in rebuilding our economy, we rebuild for better human -- and not only financial -- outcomes.
