Dr H Chaturvedi- The man with a mission: Redefining Management Education with Values, Changing Society beyond Academics
An exemplary orator, a committed philanthropist, a dedicated education leader and a well-known author are some of the hats that BIMTECH Director Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi adorns while living a life that exemplifies the mantra of ‘Work is Worship’.
At an age when most would think of growing slow after achieving all that one can desire, Dr Chaturvedi still keeps working at a pace that can put any youngster to shame.
One day he would be delivering a lecture in Delhi, while on the next, he would be unveiling his newly written book in a Mumbai campus, before moving to a third city to coordinate some high powered panel discussion.
He is a person who looks greatly at ease in company of eminent academicians, ministers and policy makers while interacting with young students of his campus. Every meeting with Dr Chaturvedi at his BIMTECH office leaves you astonished at his exemplary level of knowledge from fields as diverse as science-management to Vedas and ancient civilizations. His peaceful serene office, overlooking a scenic green garden is always overflowing with the latest books from varied fields.
A quick look at the varied titles of books in his office-shelf gives you some idea about where this all wisdom is coming from, but still leaves you wondering as to when he gets time to read them amid doing so many different things at all times.
He encompasses a humble personality that quickly puts you at ease and for a moment lets you forget the fact that you are sitting with an individual who has personally discussed science with Dr. Kalam, spirituality with Dalai Lama, philanthropy with Rajashree Birla and much more.
Hence it is no surprise that even an hour of free flowing conversation with him makes you much richer in wisdom and makes you asking for more. Not to mention that his love for gifting his visitors with amazing books is also another reason, why one should keep meeting him more often.
Indeed his love for culture and tradition hasn’t barred him from adopting modern technology and tools with complete ease. At any time of a working day, he is most certain to be spotted with his trademark I-pad in his hand, a device that he often uses to record snaps of multitude of events that he attends. He is also fairly active on Twitter and Facebook and using the social media to stay connected with all that is happening in the world.
It is only because of his vision and commitment towards future goals that the Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida became one of the first 10 institutes in India to be selected for establishing an Atal Incubation Centre for taking up the mission of Atal Innovation Mission. The AIC Centre setup by BIMTECH is one state of art facility in itself which truly encompasses the vibrant and futuristic vision of the start-up culture.
Dr Harivansh Chaturvedi is not only a very well-known name in the higher education domain of India but is also a sought after expert when it comes to promoting social-responsibility causes. From nurturing BIMTECH, Greater Noida campus to a global stature to actively propagating the causes of transforming the higher education through Education Promotion Council of India (EPSI) as it’s alternate president, he showcases a firm resolve and commitment towards the betterment of education system in India.
Since joining BIMTECH at its old campus in Pushp Vihar, New Delhi on September 2, 1999 he envisioned a dream of setting up a truly world class institute which has today taken the form of globally acclaimed BIMTECH, Greater Noida which had started functioning from this new campus in 2004.
While most discussions of women empowerment fail to get off the ground, it is Dr Chaturvedi’s vision and dedication towards this cause that BIMTECH not only supports and runs a Protsahan Chiraiya programme in a village for helping rural girls by imparting Life Skill Education there but also has achieving 1/3 women ratio in total number of faculty and students in its campus.
Dr Chaturvedi remains committed to the cause of social responsibility and is a firm believer of giving back to society. He has nurtured and inculcated this tradition in the next rank of leadership in the BIMTECH and many CSR projects are being run under his guidance by colleagues at his institution.
BIMTECH with the help of the Ranganathan Society for Social Welfare and Library Development, has established libraries BIMTECH-Pustakalay in different jails of Uttar Pradesh.
To groom the young business leaders for social causes, BIMTECH has included Responsible Business as a core module in all its management courses.
He also remains firmly committed towards promoting art and culture and under his vision the institute regularly hosts many eminent performing artists, musicians, poets, actors and authors. Creating awareness through street-plays, educating youngsters about India’s rich history through celebrated theatres or making them learn the nuances of classical dance through different performances. This is how Dr Chaturvedi is encouraged to keep these art forms alive but also giving them new loyal audience by taking  it to more and more students.
It is his commitment that the BIMTECH campus had the pleasure of listening to the vocals of Pt Rajan- Sajan Mishra, witnessing late Habib Tanwar’s performance, hearing Chhannu Lal Mishra’s Thumri’s or hosting Arvind Gaur’s plays.
He was also instrumental in setting up of the Birla Global University, Bhubaneswar which he not only envisioned and conceptualised the ambitious project but also guided to reach greater heights by his meticulous experience and precise thoughts.
As a native of Mathura, Dr Chaturvedi also stays firmly connected to his hometown and keeps envisioning a culture for the city where there could be more book shops and libraries in its allies than the food joints.
Born in 1955 at Mathura, he along with his friends, had formed a cultural forum named Jan Sanskritik Manch (JSM) in 1976 with a vision of encouraging more individuals to stay connected to the tradition of reading, enhancing cultural knowledge and much more. Even today more than 50 doctors, lawyers and academicians are actively involved with JSM, Mathura it taking the legacy forward.
Today also under Dr. Chaturvedi’s guidance a library is functional in Mathura jail and another at Man Mandir Barasana, while he also plans to keep contributing more for the betterment of the city. During the last few years he has been helping some of the old secondary schools of Mathura by organising this alumni.
Dr Chaturvedi is also greatly involved with Agra Almni Association as its Co-Founder President, it is a platform for connecting the eminent alumni  with their alma-mater and working on a roadmap to give it back to their founding block.
From starting as a lecturer in RBS college, Agra to now being the stalwart of higher education and social responsibility causes, Dr Chaturvedi is an epitome of simple living, high thinking. His personality, vision and learnings continues to inspire thousands as he keeps on scaling new heights with every passing day.
