Inspirational global business leader to receive honorary degree

The business leader frequently described as the Bill Gates of Asia because of the similarities in the story of how he founded a software firm in Bangalore in 1981, Mr. Narayana Murthy will receive an honorary degree from the OU School of Business Administration during its December 13 commencement ceremony.

Murthy is founder of Infosys Technologies Limited, a global information technology consulting and software services provider, headquartered in Bangalore, India. His entrepreneurial spirit and determination has resulted in tremendous cost savings for companies across Europe and the United States first by creating, then by setting the standard for, the global outsourcing business process. His business endeavors are also credited with helping lift his native country out of poverty. Murthy served as Infosys CEO for 21 years before retiring in 2002. He then served as the executive chairman of the board and chief mentor until 2006.

As an admired global leader, highly respected business leader and as an Asian hero who has brought about revolutionary changes in Asia, Murthy has a long and varied list of accomplishments.

Named one of TimeASIA’s 60 Asian Heroes in 2006, the publication credits Murthy and his partners with transforming the way the entire world does business. It also tells the start-up story of Infosys and its similarity to Microsoft: Murthy and six friends met in his bedsit in a Bombay slum, each contributed $250 to start a software firm, Infosys, in 1981. Ten years later, the company generated annual revenues of $150 million in 1991, and $36 billion in 2006. In March 1999, it became the first India-registered company to be listed on an American stock exchange.

Some of the various honors Mr. Murthy received include: The Economist ranked him 8th in the list of the fifteen most-admired global leaders in 2005, ranked 28th among the world's most-respected business leaders by the Financial Times in 2005, and identified by the TIME magazine in 2004 as one of the ten global leaders who are helping shape the future of technology. He was voted the “World Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst and Young in 2003, and the most powerful CEO for three consecutive years in 2004,05 and 06 by Economic Times. He was chosen as the “Business Process Innovator” by The Economist in 2007, an Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership medal from The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2007, was awarded “Padma Vibhushan” (the second highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2008), and the Officer of the Legion of Honor in 2008 by the Government of France.

‘The SBA is also planning to have Mr. Murthy meet informally several groups on December 12^th prior to his receiving the doctorate. . Details are still being confirmed. For more information about this event, please contact Lisa Desmet (desmet@oakland.edu), Mohan Tanniru (Tanniru@oakland.edu).