K. M. Vasudevan Pillai (born 17 May 1946 in Kerala, India) is an Indian educationist, social entrepreneur, institution-builder, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. He is the founder and CEO of the

Mahatma Education Society Mahatma Education Society is a not-for-profit trust in India that manages 48 educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and institutions of architecture, management, engineering, vocational education, and teacher training. The insti ...

, a not-for-profit trust that manages 48 educational institutions, from schools and

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

to institutions of architecture, management, engineering, vocational education, and teacher training. The institutions are spread over five locations ( Chembur, Gorai, Panvel,

New Panvel New Panvel is a residential, commercial and educational node of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra and comes under the Konkan division. New Panvel was developed on marshy land and was previously a Mango cultivated area. New Panvel is divided into two pa ...

, and Rasayani) and serve over 30,000 students. The Mahatma Education Society employs over 2000 teachers, many who have been trained in-house.

Early life and education

Pillai is one of six children. To acquire an urban education, he was sent to Mumbai in 1962, at the age of sixteen. After completing his post-graduation in English Literature, he worked for a year as a lecturer of English in Somaiya Polytechnic College, Mumbai. Later, he completed his doctoral thesis on the works of the renowned English poet, William Wordsworth, traveling through the length of the Lake District to track the poet's life and sources of inspiration. In 1970, Pillai established the Chembur English High School under the aegis of the

Family

Pillai is a long-standing resident of Chembur. In 1981 he married Dr. Daphne Pillai, a lecturer of English Literature at Jaihind College Mumbai. Daphne Pillai was also the Founder President of

Soroptimist International Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer service organization for women with nearly 72,000 members in 121 countries worldwide. According to Soroptimist.org, their mission statement says that, "Soroptimist is a global volunteer organiza ...

, Mumbai-Chembur, and has been responsible for several initiatives for the empowerment of women, including an adult literacy drive in slums.

Achievements

* Pillai is the founder of the Dr. Pillai Global Academies in Gorai and Panvel. They are international schools that offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and the University of Cambridge schooling programmes. The schools have won many accolades for their state of art of infrastructure and innovative teaching methodologies. * He is also the Chairman of Erudite Education Mission, a non-profit organization that fulfills the CSR objectives of the group. * In 2006, Pillai started an international management exchange programme with St. Mary's College of Business & Economics, California, with a view to expose students to global advancements in management. * In April 2010, he was part of a high-level national delegation to the BRIC-IBSA Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Publications

Dr. Pillai is the author of ''Edunation: The Dream of an India Empowered'', a book that offers insights into what can be done to transform India's education sector. The book is an exhaustive reference point for policy-makers, institution-builders, teachers and educators.

References

External links