By Ajith Lawrence
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 9, 2024: Senapathy “Kris” Gopalakrishnan, cofounder of Infosys Limited, has won the first award honoring Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios, the first principal of Mar Ivanios College in Thiruvananthapuram.
The award was announced on October 9 by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, head of the Syro-Malankara Church that manages the 75-year-old college.
It was instituted by Amicos, or Association of Mar Ivanios College Old Students.
The award jury was headed by K Jayakumar, former chief secretary of Kerala. Other members were T P Srinivasan, a former Indian ambassador, and John Matthai, another former chief secretary of Kerala.
The jury selected Gopalakrishnan in recognition of his outstanding contributions in creating jobs in the country.
The award comprises 100,000 rupees and a citation.
Gopalakrishnan, a recipient of Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, was also the vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Infosys, an Indian multinational technology company.
While announcing the award at a function in Thiruvananthapuram, Cardinal Cleemis, the fourth head of the Malankara Church, praised Gopalakrishnan’s efforts to create employment opportunities for young people in India at a time when hundreds of thousands of them go overseas for jobs.
Gopalakrishnan was born on April 5, 1955, in Thiruvananthapuram. He studied at the Government Model Boys Higher Secondary School. He obtained Master of Science in Physics in 1977 and M Tech in Computer Science in 1979, both from IIT Madras.
He started his career as a software engineer with Patni Computer Systems, Mumbai, in 1979.
He is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineers and an Honorary Fellow of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers of India.
In 2011, the Indian government awarded him with Padma Bhushan. His wife is Sudha Gopalakrishnan and they have a child.
Archbishop Gregorios (1916-1994) succeeded Archbishop Mar Ivanios as the head of the Church in 1955.
He was born Varghese Thangalathil at Kalloopara in the present day Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
As a teenager, he came closer to the ideal of Bethany Ashram and was attracted by Mar Ivanios. He later joined the Bethany Ashram and adopted the name Benedict.
He studied philosophy and theology at Papal Seminary, Kandy, Sri Lanka. He was ordained a priest of Bethany Ashram in 1944 by then Bishop Bernad Reinjo of Kandy.
He taught Syriac for some time in St. Aloysius Seminary, Trivandrum, before going for higher studies in economics to St. Joseph’s College, Trichy. On return he was appointed the first principal of Mar Ivanios College.
He was consecrated as bishop on January 29, 1953, by Archbishop Ivanios, and he received the name Benedict Mar Gregorios. After the death of Ivanios, Gregorios became the second head of the Church that was formed in 1930, the youngest ritual church in the Catholic Church.