N.R. Narayana Murthy

N.R. Narayana Murthy

Narayana Murthy (full name: Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy) was born on 20th August, 1946 in Sidlaghatta, Karnataka. He has been described as Father of Indian IT sector by Time magazine for his contribution to outsourcing in India. Fortune Magazine listed him among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time.

Education

In 1967, Narayan Murthy completed his graduation from National Institute of Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1969, he received his master's degree from IIT Kanpur.

Career

Narayan Murthy started his career at IIM Ahmedabad as chief systems programmer and later joined Patni Computer Systems in Pune. In 1981, he started Infosys in 1981 and served as its CEO from 1981 to 2002. From 2002 to 2011 he became its chairman. In 2011, he stepped down from the board and became Chairman Emeritus.

At Present Seeing the downward growth of Infosys, Narayan Murthy returned to Infosys on 1st June 2013 as Executive Chairman and Additional Director. With his presence, Infosys came back on its track. On 12th June, 2014 Murthy stepped down as Executive Chairman and would continue as Non-Executive Chairman till October. He will be designated as Chairman Emeritus.

Recently, on 12th June, 2014 Infosys appointed Vishal Sikka as its CEO and MD. He is the first non-founding member of the company to hold this position in company’s 33 years old history.

Awards and Honors

Narayana Murthy has received various prestigious awards in his life time. Recently he received “25 Greatest Global Indian Living Legends” by NDTV and “Philanthropist of the Year” by The Asian Awards in 2013. In 2012, he was honored by “Hoover Medal” by American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2011, NDTV honored him with “NDTV Indian of the Year's Icon of India”. The prestigious “Padma Vibhushan” was offered to him by Government of India in 2008. The same year, Government of France made him the “Officer of the Legion of Honor”. While in the previous year, Government of United Kingdom honored him with Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 2003, Ernst and Young awarded him “World Entrepreneur of the Year”. His first award came in 2000 when Government of India honored him with Padma Shri.