In September 2014, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, the founding Vice Chancellor of Ashoka University, wrote the following lines for the first edition of Samvad which aptly describe the beginnings of Ashoka: “The phrase “tryst with destiny’’ that Jawaharlal Nehru coined for his speech on August 15, 1947 has become a part of India’s national lexicon.

Seven years ago, a handful of entrepreneurs were gripped by the idea of establishing a university that would provide excellent education to the future citizens of India. They decided that it would concentrate on the Liberal Arts, an

2011: VT Bharadwaj with the founding batch of the Young India Fellowship at the SACAC Campus

area of learning which had fallen into neglect. In 2008, the International Foundation for Research and Education was formed as a Section 25 company under the Companies Act, 1956, to create Ashoka University.

Nine years later, Ashoka has grown into a full-fledged movement, with over a hundred Founders – individuals and corporates who believe in its vision and mission. Each has given to the University in his/her unique way, transforming lives of countless individuals. The photo essay below aims to chronicle the journey of Ashoka through its Founders.

2012: Amit Chandra, Tiger Tyagarajan and Ashish Dhawan inspecting the under-construction university

2013: Vineet Gupta, Pranav Gupta, Ashish Gupta and Pramath Sinha with Haryana Government officials at the formal inspection of the campus

2014: With (then) Vice Chancellor Rudrangshu Mukherjee at the campus inauguration

2015: Deep Kalra addresses Young India Fellows

2015: Celebrating Ashoka’s first Founders Day

2016: Tiger Tyagarajan, Harshbeena Sahney Zaveri and Sasha Sanyal at the inauguration of the Genpact Centre for Women’s Leadership

2016: Ashoka celebrates its second Founders Day

2017: Rajeev Sahney and Amit Chandra twinning on the third Founders Day

2017: Rahul Bajaj interacts with staff on a tour of the campus

2017: Ashish Dhawan and Vineet Gupta at the graduation of Ashoka’s first undergraduate batch

2017: Manish Kejriwal and Pramod Bhasin listening to Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan

2017: Founders with Venki Ramakrishnan and Sunil Khilnani, chief guests at the first undergraduate convocation