BackLiberalized education sector will bring foreign institutes to India: Henry Bienen
Bienen, president emeritus, of Northwestern University talks about his association with HT Media’s education venture
Premium(Mint)
New Delhi: Liberalizing Indian higher education will bring many top foreign institutes to India, professor Henry S. Bienen, president emeritus, Northwestern University, one of the oldest in the US, said in an interview. Bienen, who was in Delhi on 6 April to participate in a discussion on bridging the education-employability mismatch, spoke on his association with HT Media Ltd’s education venture, and his success in raising funds for Northwestern University. Northwestern’s endowment quintupled from $1.4 billion in 1995 to nearly $7 billion in 2009, when he stepped down as its president. He also spoke about the scope of executive education in India. Edited excerpts:
What’s your association with Bridge School of Management, a joint venture between HT Media and Apollo Global Inc.?
I have been a consultant to HT (HT Media) for some years. I met Rajiv Verma (chief executive officer of HT Media) when he was in Kellogg School of Management a few years back. We had a plan to open a journalism school in Delhi but that never happened and Northwestern went to Qatar instead. But we stayed in touch. We did some consulting for HT as they thought about education. We discussed corporate education. In a way, I was part of the new thinking in HT… for the last five years or more.
You were pretty successful in raising funds for Northwestern University as its president, something that leading Indian educational institutes have not been able to do. What’s the key?
US institutions have an advantage that way because of the culture of giving (to educational institutes). We have strong ties with an alumnus…that’s very difficult to achieve quickly. Even great universities like Oxford and Cambridge in England are trying to (do this). Some universities are doing very well-like Stanford and Harvard. When I joined Northwestern, it was not doing that well (in fund-raising) and then we built our data, brought in people and we did it.
Several universities are now turning multi-campus. Some Indian varsities have done so, and Northwestern too has done so under your guidance. How does this help?
The big campus we did was in Doha. It’s very complicated…not so easy to do. Some universities have gone to Dubai, Singapore, but it’s not easy to accomplish. First, somebody should want you. It was very expensive (for us) in Qatar; it’s a wealthy small country. Some American schools like Carnegie Mellon had done so there, so we went there (but) even then it was difficult. You need a good partnership.
India is liberalizing higher education and plans to allow foreign players to open independent campuses. Do you see many top institutes coming here?
Sure, some have even started doing it in a limited way. We have been talking about doing something in Mumbai. As the sector liberalizes and opens up, I individually would like to come to India—English speaking, great country, every major university using Indian academics. Overall it’s a great place, though land here is expensive; there are some barriers to it…(like) repatriation of money. If India fully liberalizes then people will be knocking on the door.
Executive education is considered a cash cow for B-schools. The income is robust and critics say the responsibilities are far fewer. What’s your view?
When we talk about executive education, we talk about a gamut of courses. At the very top-end, you have places like the Indian School of Business (ISB). They give a diploma but it’s very high quality. It looks like the best of American business schools. When we are talking about Bridge School, it is limited—not to give an MBA degree but offer customized corporate programmes for different industry sectors. India provides a big opportunity… but very few quality institutes. IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) are great but then there is big gap (after those institutes).
So, how quickly do you think Bridge School can establish itself?
Much more quickly than ISB. I will be surprised if Bridge School is not up and running, and expanding, within two years.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
