August 15, 2017

Chatterjee to Be Honored by Indian Government, Other CISAT News

Photo of CGU Professor Samir Chatterjee
Samir Chatterjee, Fletcher Jones Chair of Technology Design & Management

Flying India’s Flag High

Samir Chatterjee has been chosen as a recipient of this year’s Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman, an award given by the Indian government in recognition of the high accomplishments of Indians living outside of India. (“Pravasi samman” translates as “non-resident honor.”)

The Fletcher Jones Chair of Technology Design & Management at the Center for Information Systems & Technology (CISAT), Chatterjee will join with fellow recipients of this year’s award for a ceremony held in September in London at the House of Lords.  The ceremony will take place as part of the two-day Global Indian Summit, September 26-28.

“I am truly humbled and honored,” said Chatterjee, writing an emotional Facebook post about the announcement.  “I feel lucky and blessed for this most cherished award as it comes from the country of my birth.”

With more than 16 million Indians living outside of India, the award is given annually to only 30 people by the Indian government under the auspices of the Non-Resident Indian Welfare Society.

Honorees are celebrated not only for making their mark overseas but also for supporting India’s profile—“flying the flag of India high,” according to the announcement—around the world.

Recently Chatterjee was also honored at the 10th Annual Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology Conference, held in Dublin, Ireland, with a lifetime achievement award.

The author of more than 100 conference and journal articles, Chatterjee joined CGU in 2001. His work ranges across disciplines, from computer science and evaluation to design, health, and behavior psychology. In 2002, he established the university’s Innovation Design Empowerment Applications Laboratory, also known as the IDEA Lab.  The lab provides a focus for examining human and societal problems in light of innovations made possible by information technology.

Chatterjee joins an illustrious group of recipients, including acclaimed author and poet Jaya Kamlani and medical researcher and Eye Foundation of America founder Dr. V.K. Raju.

“While we may have left our home country, our country has not left us,” Chatterjee said in his posting.  “I feel more motivated than ever before.”

Regan Award Winner

As the 2016-2017 academic year came to a close, the International Place of The Claremont Colleges named CISAT student Ala Alluhaidan as the recipient of this year’s Margaret Regan Memorial Award.

The award, which includes a $500 stipend and was named in memory of the dedication of Margaret Regan to the International Place until her death in 1988, is given to an exceptional international female graduate student “in recognition of her outstanding leadership and contributions made to I-Place, CGU, and the The Claremont Colleges.”

Alluhaidan, who completed her doctorate in information systems and technology, wrote her dissertation on “From Empowerment to Sustained Health Behaviors Using Home Monitoring Systems: A Deductive Theoretical Model for Informational and Communication Technology (ICT).”