Chittaranjan Mitra, popularly known as CR Mitra and CRM, was an Indian scientist who is best remembered as the second Director of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (BITS). He played a pivotal role in the transformation of the institute from a local engineering college to a reputed university.

Education

Born in 1926 in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

in the erstwhile

United Provinces of British India The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 22 March 1902 to 1937; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province h ...

, C.R. Mitra studied at

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

, Bangalore, did his master's degree at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and then acquired a Doctorate in

Engineering Science Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medica ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, New York.

Career

Returning to India in the 1960s, Mitra first became the director of the

Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU), formerly Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI), is a historical STEM college, currently operating as a technical state-university, and is located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, northern India. ...

. In 1969, he was offered the position of director of

BITS Pilani The Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a private deemed university in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. BITS Pilani was one of the first ...

by Ghanshyam Das Birla. At this time, the institute was undergoing major changes under the leadership of a committee of experts from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. He is credited with increasing the pace of those reforms, as well as for constituting a "practice school" program of industry internship "far more ambitious than anything MIT had done, as a requirement for all faculty and students". To address the human resource development needs of the Indian industry and the financial challenge of running higher degree programs at BITS Pilani, in the year 1979, he pioneered the Work Integrated Learning Programs, which provided education and training to employees of Indian Industries. Today, these programs have an enrollment of about 17,000 students throughout India and are responsible for earning two thirds of the revenue of the institute. Mitra was responsible for introducing innovative educational philosophies which made the educational system at BITS Pilani unique, including broad-based, multi-disciplinary approach, semester long course based curricula, practice school, industry-academia collaboration, choosing electives and many other features which were firsts in Indian higher education. He was widely respected by the students who affectionately referred to him as ''Dynamic Diro'' (Director) In 1989, he was invited by

NIIT NIIT Limited is an Indian for-profit multinational corporation headquartered in Gurgaon, India, that provides training, development, and vocational education. The company was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome its human ...

to be their education advisor. He was responsible for introducing the 'GNIIT' program that would become the flagship offering of the institute.Press Release by BITS Pilani
/ref> Under his advisory, NIIT rose as one of the leading IT education providers in India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Chittaranjan 2008 deaths 1926 births University of Allahabad alumni Academic staff of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Indian Institute of Science alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Educators from Uttar Pradesh Scholars from Allahabad