At the fifth University Convocation on December 29, 2008, Dr. M. Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 said, “I feel honored to stand here as the chief guest of today’s function, in an institution founded and named after one of the greatest mothers of this mother earth.” He was addressing the 2500+ graduating students, the faculty and staff, on the sprawling campus greens of the University Headquarters at Coimbatore. He extolled the high mission and the vision of Amrita University.

Amrita University, only six years old, has nevertheless begun attracting global attention. The achievements of its students and alumni, in India and abroad, are helping enhance its reputation. It is becoming known as a place for learning and research, where quality instruction is imparted and projects are undertaken with a goal to benefit society. It is becoming known for its thousands of graduates who are excelling in their chosen fields in the best institutions all over the world.

University status was conferred on Amrita on 13th January 2003, under Section 3 of UGC Act, vide Government of India order No. F.9-25/2000-U.3. At that time, this was the youngest group of institutions in India ever to have received this status. The School of Engineering at Coimbatore had been founded only nine years prior. In addition, were the Schools of Medicine and Nursing at Kochi, only a year old, and the School of Businees at Coimbatore, seven years old. Today Amrita has 15 Schools including those for Arts & Sciences, Ayurveda, Biotech, Dentistry, Journalism, Education, Pharmacy.

The first funded project in the University was initiated in 2004, for secure data acquisition services. Today 100+ projects are ongoing at the research centers of Amrita. 3 national centers in Biotechnology, Cybersecurity, E-learning together with the nation’s first center for Nano-Bio have attracted faculty and funding from all over the world. Inter-disciplinary research is encouraged; for instance a project to accurately predict landslides before they happen using a network of wireless sensors is undertaken by a team of physicists, mathematicians, mechanical engineers and computer scientists.

In 2005, Amrita University signed the landmark Indo-US agreement, marking the beginning of an era of collaboration with leading international universities and institutions. On July 20, 2005, Amrita had led a consortium of Indian organizations including the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Washington, DC, to sign the agreement with five US Universities -- UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Cornell, CMU, SUNY Buffalo.

Later that same year, on December 8, 2005, the agreement was extended to include fifteen other top-ranked universities including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Purdue, UT Austin, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, University of Washington, University of Maryland. Deans from these Universities met at the Presidential House in New Delhi in the presence of the then President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, following which they came to Amritapuri to meet the Chancellor of Amrita University, our beloved Amma.

In 2003, there were only a total of 200 faculty in Amrita. Today, over 1500 faculty, many with PhDs from leading universities, have joined Amrita. Inspired by Amma’s vision for Amrita University, several have moved back to India from the West, giving rise to a phenomenon we like to call “brain gain” vs. the conventional “brain drain” that was seen in India for decades. Over 13000 students are enrolled in the 100+ degree programs including bachelors, masters, doctoral. The first doctorate degree in medicine was awarded in 2007 and that in engineering in 2008.

Amrita campuses located in rural areas have transformed the surrounding villages into thriving, vibrant regions. Employment opportunities for large numbers of people and education for their children has become available. In 1994, Ettimadai, the location of our University Headquarters, was but an obscure village. Located at the foothills of the Bouluvanpatty Ranges of the Western Ghats, this once-barren and inaccessible land has now given way to a beautiful 400-acre wooded campus extolled as one of the most picturesque campuses in India.

Amrita University currently has campuses in five locations – Amritapuri (Kerala), Bangalore (Karnataka), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Kochi (Kerala), Mysore (Karnataka). Future campuses are planned at Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and New Delhi. The new campuses will make available the superior quality of education offered by Amrita to more parts of India. They will help make the vision of our Chancellor a reality -- that India should once again become known as a place where knowledge flourishes and learning is actively encouraged.