IIT Gandhinagar: 15 Years of ExcellenceNews


Faculty Chairs


Jibaben Patel Chair in Artificial Intelligence

IIT Gandhinagar has setup this faculty chair in Artificial Intelligence in honour of Smt. Jibaben Patel through a donation by his son Dr. Jagdish Patel.

Dr. Jagdish Patel, former Chairman and Medical Director at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, has established the Jibaben Patel Chair in Artificial Intelligence and the Jibaben Patel Faculty Chair at IIT Gandhinagar. He has also established a major endowment at the Institute to develop the Jibaben Patel Memorial Auditorium.

The Jibaben Patel Memorial Auditorium is a 300 seat auditorium at IIT Gandhinagar, which is used for classes and to host major events at the Institute.

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Smt. Jibaben Patel

Smt. Jibaben Patel was born in 1910 in a small village near Khambhat. She barely had the opportunity to finish her primary schooling. She was married at the age of 15 and soon left for East Africa in a dhow, a small sailboat, with her husband.

Since they were one of the early Gujarati pioneers, she and her husband welcomed numerous Gujarati immigrant families to their home, providing free lodging and assistance until the Gujarati immigrants could find jobs to support themselves. Many of them were very grateful for the unconditional support provided by her during those difficult years. This desire to help the less fortunate was also apparent through her donations to numerous charity organizations. Nobody left her home on an empty stomach.

A spirited and friendly woman, she raised six children who were all very successful. She always inspired others to work hard, be fair, and kind. She was a person for all ages, child with a child and an adult with an adult. She emigrated to USA in her sixties in 1974, where she passed away in 1999.

Dr. Jagdish Patel
Endowment

Dr. Jagdish Patel was born in Kampala, Uganda of East Africa to parents whose roots lied in small villages surrounding the town of Khambhat. He went to M.S. University of Baroda and graduated from Baroda Medical College in 1967.

Current Occupant

Dr. Shanmuganathan Raman
Jibaben Patel Chair in Artificial Intelligence
Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering