Our next set of awards celebrates those colleagues who have dedicated their efforts to Embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The first person we are recognizing today with an Excellence Award for these efforts is Bhaskar Pant, Executive Director of MIT Professional Education.
When he arrived at MIT in 2008, he was determined to take MIT to the world— particularly to countries where professionals desperately needed MIT knowledge but did not have the ability to travel here.
This led to his launch of International Programs within MIT PE. In the decade and a half since, MIT faculty have traveled to countries like India, Italy, and Nigeria to offer courses.
To reach even more people, Bhaskar organized online offerings in multiple languages. MIT PE now reaches upwards of 20,000 professionals in more than 120 countries every year—an enormous leap from the 1,500 people the program served when he started.
As one colleague shared, “Bhaskar strongly believes that MIT staff, students, and faculty should always be growing their global people skills to work effectively and harmoniously with those from different cultures. His commitment to fostering these values is unending.”