The Renaissance Engineer Venkatesh Narayanamurti
Widely recognized for revitalizing the engineering and applied sciences programs at Harvard, Venkatesh Narayanamurti (fondly referred to as Venky) continues to advocate a liberal arts education for future generations of engineers. In this conversation with Sharmila Sen, he reminisces about his formative years at St. Stephen’s College and offers his vision for a generation of engineers who first learn about the world around them before they set out to solve its problems. Do tell us a little about your own college education in India during the late 1950s. What was it like to study physics at St. Stephen’s at that time? I only have fond memories of my five years at St. Stephen’s, where I got my BSc (Honors) and MSc in Physics. It was a special place modeled after Cambridge, and which championed liberal education. Even though I was a physics major, I was on the track team and their debating team and was elected president of the college union in my senior year. My nephew, the Indian historian Ram Guha, also studied there. Most of my physics classmates joined Indian Administrative Service (IAS), which was modeled after the British civil service. Many of the members of my cabinet in the college union, fellow Stephanians, went on to high office: Arun Shourie, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and Vinod Dikshit are among those I remember. I continue to meet others such as Shankar Menon and Kapil Sibal who also went to Stephen’s. Sadly, I am told the college in recent years has lost some of its luster. Looking back to your St. Stephen’s education, how well did it prepare you for your PhD training at Cornell, and for your professional work at Bell Labs? Are there particular classes, teachers, or even methods of learning you recall from your college days that were especially helpful in the making of an engiHarvard South Asia Institute 73