First college degreeofWomen Leaders in India - 2014

How many successful Indian women selected Arts when they entered college life?

Is it time to build more colleges towards Liberal Arts and Humanities in India? Some of the well known Indian women who selected Arts or Humanities for their first college degree are listed in this presentation.

Notes:All B.A. degrees were included like English, Economics, Sanskrit etc.Not included are B.E., B.Tech, B.Com, B.Sc. , MBBS, B.L. (U.G. in Law) degrees.Source of Data: Wiki and other sites from Internet

Arundhati Bhattacharya

Title: Chairperson

Company: State Bank of India

Degree: B.A. (English)

Post Grad/Others:M.A. (English)

Comments:First Woman to head the largest bank in India

Ranjana Kumar

Title: Chairperson

Company: Indian Bank

Degree: B.A.

Post Grad/Others:Hindi (Virashak)Bharat NatyamMusic (Sangeet Bhushan)

Comments:Orator

Anu Aga

Title: Chairperson

Company: Thermax

Degree: B.A.

Post Grad/Others:

Comments:Took over the company after her husband’s death

Devaki Jain

Gandhian EconomistFeminist writer

Field:Social justiceWomen improvement

Degree: B.A. (economics)

Post Grad/Others:

Comments:Padma bhushanWife of Lakshmi Chand Jain (Gandhian economist)

Nirupama Menon Rao

Title: Foreign Secretary (Retd)(Former) Ambassador to several countries

Govt of India Degree: B.A. (English)Post Grad/Others:M.A. (English)I.F.S. (1973)

Comments:Handled the Libyan Crisis

Chanda Kochar

Title: MD and CEO

Company: ICICI Bank

Degree: B.A. (Jai Hind College, Mumbai)

Post Grad/Others:ICWA MMS (JamnaLal Bajaj)

Comments:One of the Top 50 women business leaders in the world (Fortune mag 2013)

Vinita Bali

Title: MD & CEO

Company: Brittania Industries

Degree: B.A. (economics) DelhiPost Grad/Others:MBA (Jamnalal Bajaj)

Comments:2011- Forbes listed her in Asia’s Top 50 Power Business Women

Shikka Sharma

Title: MD and CEO

Company: Axis Bank

Degree: B.A.

Post Grad/Others:PG Dip in SoftwareMBA (IIM Ahm)

Comments:One of the Top 50 women business leaders in the world (Fortune mag 2013)

(Late) Mrs. Indira Gandhi

Title: former Prime Minister of India (1966-77, 1980-84)Leader of Congress Party

Degree: (B.A. ) (History, Political Science, Economics)

Comments:Could not complete it in Oxford because of health and world war.Later Oxford conferred an honorary degree.

Mamata Banerji

Title: Chief of Trinamool CongressChief Minister of West Bengal (2013- )

Degree: B.A. (History)

Post Grad/Others:M.A. (Islamic History)LawEducation

Comments:

Sushma Swaraj

Title: External Affairs ministerOf India (2014- Former Health minister (2003-04)Former I&B Minister7 Times MPFormer Delhi CM

Degree: B.A. (Sanskrit and Political Science)(SD College Ambala)

Post Grad/Others:Law

Comments:Allowed bank finance for film productionAllowed Community Radios

Vandana Gopinath and Vaishnavi

Title: Co-Founders

NGO: The Banyan (non profit for mentally ill women)

Degree: B.A. (Eng Lit)

Post Grad/Others:

Comments:Shelters, rehabilitates mentally ill women

Padma Subrahmanyam

DancerDirector of Nrityodaya

Degree: B.A. (Music)

Post Grad/Others:M.A. (Ethnomusicology)Ph. D in dance

Comments:Padma Bhushan (2003)Padmashri (1981)

Mallika Sarabhai

Dancer Social Activist Degree: B.A. (economics)

Post Grad/Others:IIM Ahm (1974)Ph.D in Org Behaviour (Gujarat Univ) (1976)

Comments:Daughter of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (scientist)

Kiran Bedi

Title: IPS Officer (first woman IPS)

Degree: B.A. (Economics) -Govt College Amritsar

Post Grad/Others:Political ScienceLawPh.D. in Social Science

Comments:

Anita Desai

Title: Writer,Professor Humanities

Univ: MIT, Boston

Degree: B.A. (English)(Univ of Delhi)

Post Grad/Others:

Comments:Mother of writer Kiran Desai (Man Booker prize winner)

Anita Nair

Writer

Degree: B.A. (English)

Post Grad/Others:

Comments:

Bharati Mukherji

WriterProfessor (English)

Univ of Califorinia Berkeley

Degree: B.A. (Univ of Calcutta)

Post Grad/Others:MA (Univ of Baroda)Ph.D (Univ of Iowa)

Comments:

Chitra Subramaniam

Title: Journalist

Company: The Hindu Indian Express

Degree: B.A. (English Lit)

Post Grad/Others:Post Grad in Mass Communication

Comments:Instrumental in getting news on Bofors deal from Sweden

Jhumpa Lahiri

Title: Writer

Degree: B.A. (English)

Post Grad/Others:M.A. (English)MFA (Creative Writing)Ph.D

Comments:

Mallika Srinivasan

Title: Chairman and MD

Company: TAFE

Degree: B.A. (Econometrics)(Univ of Madras)

Post Grad/Others:Wharton School of Business

Comments: Lives in Chennai

Naina Lal Kidwai

Title: MD and CEO

Company: HSBC

Degree: B.A. (Economics)

Post Grad/Others:MBACA

Comments:One of the Top 50 women business leaders in the world (Fortune mag 2013)

PROF. VEENA SIKRI

Title: Professor (Ford Foundation); Speaker;Ambassador/High Commissioner

Degree: B.A. Statistics

Post Grad/Others:M.A. EconomicsIndian Foreign SserviceFluent in Russian & French

Comments:Handled Malaysian Crisis during 2003 bravely and successfully

Homai Vyarawalla

Title: Professional Photo-journalist(Retired 1973)

Degree: B.A. (Hons) (Bombay Univ)

Post Grad/Others:Diploma in Arts (J.J.School of Arts)

Comments:India’s First woman Press photographerPadma VibhushanGandhianCaptured precious moments of Indian History during 1931-1973

Bachchendri Pal

Title: Mountaineer& Head of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation

Degree: B.A.

Post Grad/Others:M.A. (Sanskrit)Trained at NIM

Comments:First Indian Woman to climb Mt Everest

Roopa Kudva

Title: MD

Company: CRISIL

Degree: B.A. (Statistics)

Post Grad/Others:MBA (IIM Ahm)

Comments:

Lynn De Souza

Title: former CEO and Chairperson

Company: Lintas Media

Degree: B.A. (Economics)

Post Grad/Others:MBA

Comments:

Mithu Alur

Title: EducationsitFounder

Organization: Spastics Society of India (now called as ADAPT)

Degree: B.A. (English)

Post Grad/Others:

Comments:PadmashriCNN Super Idol Award (2010)

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