Dr. Karl Pfauter addresses the audience during Prof. B. Sengupto’s farewell, 1967

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Institute Events , Visiting VIPs , Administrators

In an issue of the magazine Pradeep, there is a brief mention of the farewell function given to Prof. B. Sengupto. “Prof. B. Sengupto laid down office as Director, I.I.T. Madras on 10th December 1967. At a farewell function held on 5th December, glowing tributes were paid to his role in the development of this Institute by the staff and students of this Institute.”

Dr. Karl Pfauter was the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany. He visited IIT Madras on several occasions. He was the chief guest at the Ninth Institute Day celebrations in 1968 and also attended the Fifth Convocation as a distinguished guest in 1968.

Prof. B. Sengupto was the first Director of IIT Madras. In an article ‘A Personal Remembrance of Things Past’, he writes, “I started my journey South on Independence Day 25 years ago…a stretch of over 3000 days, three times the span of The Arabian Nights…three times as magical as far as I was concerned.” He goes on to write about the various achievements he was able to look back at, following his tenure. These achievements include the various construction projects including hostels, academic complexes and laboratories which came up during his tenure.

Seated, from the left, Prof. S. Sampath (Deputy Director), Prof. B. Sengupto (Director), Dr. A. L. Mudaliar (Chairman, Board of Governors), Mrs. Shanti Sengupto, Prof. R. G. Narayanamurthi (Head of Mechanical Engineering Department), Prof. N. Klein (Gymkhana President) and Mr. C. V. Sethunathan (Registrar). Dr. Karl Pfauter (Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany) is to the extreme right.

An identical photograph can be found in Album 0051 with the ID 001/0051/IMG_1602_1.

Collection:

Gourishankar Collection

Album Name:

Farewell to Prof Sengupto

Photograph ID:

001/0233/IMG_0657

Album ID:

0233

Date:

5 December 1967

Place:

Open Air Theatre (OAT)

Event:

Prof. Sengupto’s Farewell Function

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.