Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1963-1966)

1098

OCTOBER MEETING, 1965

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Kanpur, India
August 15-16, 1965
On a spacious campus of 460 hectares (over 1,000 acres) near the industrial
city of Kanpur, one finds the American-oriented Indian Institute of Technology
operating at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Approximately 1,000
students are enrolled, about 15 per cent of these being in a two-year graduate
program. The undergraduate courses leading to a Bachelor of Technology degree
may be taken in five years of undergraduate study, the last two years of which are
in specialized disciplines.
The United States Agency for International Development provided technical
assistance beginning in 1962 through a group effort of nine American universities,
these being The University of Michigan, Case, Cal. Tech., Carnegie, M. I. T., The
Ohio State University, Princeton, Purdue, and the University of California
(Berkeley).
A visitor who is new to India cannot help regarding the Institute and its program as something bold and striking.
If selectivity in admissions reflects quality, the student body should be quite
extraordinary. According to Dr. Robert S. Green, the program leader of I.I.T.,
about 30,000 students indicate an initial interest in taking qualifying examinations.
Of this number, 2,100 are actually offered the exams, and the best 300 are
admitted. Incidentally, Dr. Green is from The Ohio State University and sends his
regards to Dr. Hatcher and others here.
The Institute at present has training facilities in six branches of engineering
including aeronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, and metallurgical.
Also, there are Ph.D. programs in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Further,
the humanities are included. I found science equipment of the latest design in the
laboratories and shops. Instructional equipment and teaching materials appear to
be of excellent quality and adequate in amount, although some spaces were not yet
fully supplied. Computers and some specialized research equipment are at hand.
All students live on the campus. Dormitories are rather small by American
standards, housing some 200 students each in two-floor hostels.
India has great need for the expansion of learning. It would seem helpful to
the national interest if a goodly part of the Institute's graduates also entered
teaching. This objective is sought to some extent by the Institute's leadership.
Twenty-four of the present faculty members of approximately 100 are Americans. A tour of duty is about two years. Many factors enter into the success of
visiting teachers. They must, of course, accept the different climate, housing, and
general living conditions, together with concession to somewhat different customs
of this very interesting country. The American wife finds many adjustments necessary. Her attitude has a considerable bearing on a professor's professional effectiveness. However, we were told that quite often the wife is in fact the stabilizing
influence, and the professor's success is uniquely dependent upon her. Life in Asia is
certainly a give and take situation. The rewards in service above self exceed the
various penalties of deprivation.
American financial assistance provides the buildings and furnishings, but the
operation costs are met by the Indian government, I was told.
One wonders how the Western-oriented university may thrive in an Asiatic
culture. Apparently doubts are few. Western standards, consumer goods, entertainment, industrial production, foods, cars, motion pictures, and, particularly, the
dollar, are sought throughout Asia. In this regard India is no exception. I do not
mean to convey the impression that these advantages are very widely distributed
now. My observation is rather that all who may attain many of the features of
Western life would heartily try to do so. This assessment of attitude may be
questioned by more qualified persons than I. Information not based upon my
observation but gained from conversations with numerous qualified Americans
including the clergy, teachers, business and government people, and English-speaking
nationals from other countries confirms this judgment.
Within the limits of my experience I found a universally friendly attitude
toward Americans. I realize that a statement of this scope is properly subject to
question, but I again confine it to the precise language used. This was my experience. I was not everywhere, and I did not see everyone; but if there were any
evidence of hostility, it escaped me entirely. I was able to establish many informal
as well as formal contacts during the period of the visit throughout four or five
cities and various places in the countryside.