Sometimes I'm just inspired

One of our alumni is partially responsible for something truly remarkable in India. In 2005, his boss told him they were going to set up a 911-type emergency phone system for all 1 billion people in India in five years. "I said OK, because he's my boss," said Raju Indukuri of Fremont, California, who received a University of Illinois Alumni Achievement Award on Friday night. By now they're more than halfway to their goal in India, and the system has saved tens of thousands of lives. They hope to have the rest of the nation on the emergency system by 2010. Indukuri is so excited about this. He told me they're also working with Stanford to train thousands of paramedics to respond to these emergency calls. His boss is Ramalinga Raju, the founder and chairman of Satyam Computer Services. UIS prides itself on "making a difference in the world," one of our strategic plan's top three goals. Raju is making a big, big difference. His work inspires me, and his enthusiasm inspires me even more.

"Speed networking" for our students

Something really great is going on right now in the PAC lobby. About 20 distinguished alumni are donating their time to meet with UIS students at a "speed networking" session. With one alum at each table, students have up to 15 minutes to meet with them informally, one on one, to learn about their careers and anything else they want to ask. There's a lot of energy in the room. It's part of two days of the Leadership Roundtable here at UIS. I always tell students, "Contacts. You can never have enough contacts," and it's great that some are taking advantage of the opportunity today.

Energy at DC alumni event

There was a lot of vibrant energy in the room last night at the Alumni Association's reception for UIS alums in the Washington, D.C., area. The people there graduated from 1973 to 2008 -- nearly our entire history! (There were also some UIUC alumni there, too. All part of the same Illinois family.) The networking was fun. I enjoyed seeing people I knew from their Springfield days and really enjoyed meeting new people with connections to UIS. How rewarding to see and hear on the front lines how UIS and our alumni are "making a difference in the world" -- one of our major strategic goals. I think we'll get some pictures posted soon. Come back and check; I will let you know.