BW Education felicitates women achievers in different sub-segments of education – from school to higher education to research fields and from sciences to liberal arts and music
BW Education’s Most Influential Women list, presented on the occasion of International Women’s Day each year, is a celebration of their endeavour to bring about a positive impact in education through their vision, courage and relentless effort.
We felicitate women achievers in different sub-segments of education. And this year too, we selected women representing several sub-categories – from school to higher education to research fields and from sciences to liberal arts and music. Also those working in government bodies, to those working with the grassroots.
We submitted a list of 45 women educationists to our eminent Advisory Committee of Dr Rajan Singh, VC, NMIMS; Dr Anup Singh, DG, Nirma University; Dr Punam Sahgal, former Director, IIM Lucknow, Noida Campus; and Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Mpower, an initiative by the Aditya Birla Education Trust, the latter two being part of last year’s Most Influential Women list.
The committee responded with the names that they approved, listing their criteria for selection and suggesting a few names that they felt ought to be included in this grouping.
After discussion with the internal jury comprising Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld and Founder, Exchange4Media and Noor Fathima Warsia, Group Editorial Director, BW Businessworld, BW Education team tallied the names who had got ‘yes’ from all, majority of three ‘yes’ and at least two ‘yes’ and came upon the list of 20 most influential women.
This does not take away from the tireless effort a large number of women educators are doing. Our effort at BW Education is to highlight the work being done across the country by so many individuals about whom people ought to know.
As one advisory committee member wrote, “Each of those mentioned in your list is indeed highly deserving individuals. I had considered following parameters in my recommendations:
– Academic brilliance
– Going beyond one’s own area of work or capabilities – stretching out
– Contribution to society/impact of work on society
– Major awards at national/global level.”
Presenting to you the Most Influential Women List of BW Education for the year 2023:
Sudha Murty, Co-founder, Infosys Foundation
Dilafroze Qazi, Founder, Srinagar School of Management
Vinita Sahay, Director, IIM Bodh Gaya
Najma Akhtar, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia
Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University
Uma Tuli, Founder, Amar Jyoti Trust for Orthopedically Handicapped Children
Nisha Mendiratta, Head – Women in Science & Climate Change Programmes, Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India
Zareena Qureshi, Principal, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Nagpur
Bobby Abrol, Lead – Developing Teachers, Tata Trust
Dharini Upadhyay, Co-Founder, Furtados School of Music
Charu Mathur, Founder, Socrates Foundation, Pune
Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Founder, Sahapedia
Bernadette Pimenta, Educationist and Social Activist, Mumbai
Meghna Ghai Puri, President, Whistling Woods International
Smita Deorah, Co-founder & Co-CEO, LEAD
Bhuvana Santhanam, CEO – Global Outreach, Prashanthi Balamandira Trust/Sai Global Federation of Foundations
Aarti Naik, Founder, SAKHI for Girls Education
Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities
Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi, Founder, Get Set Parent
Santishree D Pandit, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
