Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai MBA Fellowship provides financial support for up to 5 Indian nationals each year who commit to return to India, post-MBA.
Reliance Industries Limited and Stanford Graduate School of Business today announced the renewal of the Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai MBA Fellowship Program to support promising Indian students with financial need in obtaining an MBA at Stanford. Launched as a 5-year pilot in April 2008, the program has produced 19 Indian MBA graduates committed to the country’s human and socioeconomic progress. Applications for 2014 scholarships are now open.
Stanford GSB may award up to five Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai MBA Fellowships. Reliance Dhirubhai Fellows will receive full tuition support for the two-year Stanford MBA Program. Fellows must agree to return and work in India within two years of graduation.
“The inclusion of promising young leaders who will make a difference in India’s future is essential for the global perspective we aspire to create in our program,” said Garth Saloner, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business. “This fellowship program, made possible by a generous gift from Reliance Industries Limited, allows the Stanford MBA Program to extend its outreach within India to attract the best and most diverse MBA candidates possible, regardless of their financial situation.”
The 2012, 2013, and 2014 Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai MBA Fellows. (Photo by Anne Knudsen)
“Good management talent developed both within India’s top universities and at institutions abroad will be essential to supporting the country’s future innovation and growth as the economy continues to expand and globalize,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited. “I am once again honored to renew this Fellowship Program to help India’s next generation of leaders attend Stanford Graduate School of Business, an academic institution with an international reputation for innovation, diversity of student experience, and the highest quality of faculty and students from around the world.”
Prospective Fellows can find details about the two-stage application process online. In the first stage, applicants complete the Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai MBA Fellowship Program application between now and June 21, 2013. Fifty finalists will be selected by mid-July based on merit, commitment to developing India, and financial need, based on a review of each individual’s personal resources.
In the second stage, those finalists will go on to complete the standard application for the Stanford MBA Program by October 2, 2013. Stanford may select up to five Reliance Dhirubhai Fellows from among the 50 finalists based on the primary admission criteria of intellectual vitality, demonstrated leadership potential, and personal qualities and contributions.
The Reliance Dhirubhai Fellows will receive tuition support and course-related fees — an estimated $140,000 total value per Fellow for the two-year program. Funding is automatically renewed for the second year if the student maintains good academic standing and community citizenship at Stanford GSB. After graduation from the MBA Program, each Fellow must return to India for a minimum of two years of employment in the private or public sector.
Stanford GSB is committed to educating leaders around the world. In August 2013, the school will convene Stanford Ignite-Bangalore, the first in-country certificate program in India for innovators to develop their ideas.
— Helen Chang
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