The National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) has signed an agreement with Cornell University for academic collaboration across a range of areas, underlining the commitment to bring the best in education and research from around the world to the newly created University. The college is well-known for its distinctive strengths in the areas of service operations and operations management, both of which are central to the Railways and Transportations sector.
NRTI was established this year as a deemed to be University, driven by Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi’s vision to establish a world-class higher education Institution to power the growth and transformation of the Railways and Transportation in India. The University has launched two distinctive undergraduate programs this year which will be offered in the sprawling campus in the heart of Vadodara City.
Cornell University, established in 1865, is one of the Ivy League US Universities and is ranked among the top 10 Universities in the US by the highly respected Times Higher Education rankings. It is also the largest among the Ivy league Universities which include Harvard, Yale. Princeton, Columbia and University of Pennsylvania.
The agreement was signed by Dr. L. Joseph Thomas, the Dean of Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and Mr. D.K. Gayen, Member (staff) of Railway Board and Director of NRTU Foundation in a special ceremony at Cornell Tech, the new campus and innovation centre of Cornell University in New York.
Speaking on the occasion, Dean Thomas said “In signing this MOA, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business is taking the first step to developing a collaborative academic relationship with NRTI and its parent organization, Indian Railways. We are honored to put Cornell’s 150 years of academic experience and unique expertise in service / hospitality, operations research and business management to work in helping to build this new Institute in India.”
The collaboration envisages participation of Cornell faculty in design and teaching at NRTI, joint research in key areas, and offering joint programs for upgrading capabilities of professionals in the Rail and transportation sector in India. Mr. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman of Railway Board and Chancellor of NRTI, hailed this collaboration as a signal that the National Rail and Transportation Institute aims to work with the best towards fulfilling its mission to evolve as a world-class Institution.
