F. C. Kohli

Faqir Chand Kohli
Born Faqir Chand Kohli
(1924-02-28) 28 February 1924
Peshawar, British India (now Pakistan)
Alma mater Queen's University, Canada
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation Industrialist

Faqir Chand Kohli (born 28 February 1924) popularly known as F. C. Kohli is an Indian industrialist. He is frequently referred to as the Father of the Indian Software Industry due to his significant contribution in Indian IT industry.[1][2] He was the founder[3] and first CEO[4] of Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest[5] software consultancy company. He has also worked as the deputy general manager of the Tata Power Company. He is also on the board of governors of College of Engineering, Pune.

Early life

F.C.Kohli was born in Peshawar (Present day Pakistan), British India on 28 February 1924. He did his schooling in Peshawar and did his BA and BSc (Hons) at the Government College for Men in Lahore from Punjab University, Lahore, where he was university gold medalist.[6][7] Initially, he wanted to join the Indian navy, but he also applied for a scholarship to study abroad. After getting the scholarship he went to Queen's University, Canada and completed his BSc (Hons) in Electrical Engineering in 1948. He then worked for a year at the Canadian General Electric Company and subsequently did his MS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950.[8][9]

Career

Early in 1951, Kohli joined Ebasco International Corporation, New York Connecticut Valley Power Exchange, Hartford and New England Power System, Boston for training in power system operation. He returned to India in early August 1951, and joined Tata Electric Companies where he helped to set up the load dispatching system to manage the system operations. He then became the general superintendent in 1963, and deputy general manager in 1967. In 1966, he was also appointed as senior consultant to Tata Consulting Engineers. He became director of Tata Electric Companies in 1970. During his years with Tata Electric Companies, he introduced advanced engineering and management techniques for the operation of power systems. He was also responsible for significant use of digital computers for power system design and control, using the CDC 3600 mainframe computer at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.[8][10]

In September 1969, he became the general manager of Tata Consultancy Services. In 1974, he was made the director-in-charge and in 1994 deputy chairman of TCS.[6][8] He is also a director on the board of Tata Sons Limited, Tata Industries Limited, Tata Unisys Limited, Tata Electric Company, Tata Honeywell Limited, Bradma of India Limited, Airline Financial Support Services India Private Limited, Tata Technologies Limited Singapore, Investor Services of India Limited, Triveni Engineering Works, Abacus Distribution Systems and Airline Software Development Consultancy India Private Limited. He is also chairman of Tata Elxsi India Limited and WTI Advanced Technology Limited.[10]

Kohli is associated with professional organisations like the Computer Society of India, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers New York, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the Indian National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Management Consultants of India.

Kohli was on the board of directors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for the years 1973–74 and was a chairman of the India Council. He is the past president of the Computer Society of India and was the chairman of the Southeast Asia Regional Computer Conference held at Singapore in 1976 and chairman of the apex committee of the Southeast Asia Regional Computer Conference held at New Delhi in 1988. He was president of the Management Consultants Association of India for the year 1975–76. For 1975–77 he was the chairman of the Institutions of Electrical Engineers Bombay. In 1989, he was appointed adviser to the South east Asia Regional Computer Confederation.[10]

He was a president of NASSCOM for 1995–96.[10]

Positions held

TCS was established in 1968 with its headquarters in Mumbai. It was formed as a division of Tata Sons Limited (TSL), one of India's largest business conglomerates. F C Kohli was appointed as the first CEO. He held the following positions in different time of his career.

Company NamePositionYear
Tata Infotech LimitedDirector1977
Bradma of India LimitedDirector1982
WTI Advanced Technology LimitedChairman1988
Tata Elxsi (I) LimitedDirector1989
Tata Technologies (Pte) Limited, Singapore.Director1991
Triveni Engineering Works LimitedDirector1994
HOTV Inc., US.Director1999
Engineering Analysis Center of Excellence Pvt. LimitedDirector1999
eBIZ Solutions LimitedDirector1999
Edutech Informatics India (P) LimitedDirector2000
Technosoft SA, SwitzerlandDirector2000
Sun F&C Asset Management (I) Pvt. LimitedDirector2000
Aerospace Systems Pvt. LimitedDirector2000
Media Lab Asia LimitedDirector2002

Honors

In 2002, Kohli was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor, for his contribution to the Indian software industry.[11] He also has been awarded honorary degrees from Shiv Nadar University, University of waterloo, Canada,[6] Robert Gordon University, U.K, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, Jadavpur University, Queen's University and University of Roorkee.[1] He is also a fellow of IEEE US, IEE UK, Institution of Engineers India, and Computer Society of India among others.[6]

Other awards and honors:

  • FC Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems (KCIS), at IIIT Hyderabad, 2015.[12]
  • Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Award, 2000.[13]
  • Lifetime Achievement Award for Management, All India Management Association (AIMA), 2002.
  • Gold Medal and Cash Award for paper on 'Economics of Long Distance, Extra High Voltage Transmission Lines'.
  • Gold Medal from Central Board of Irrigation and Power, for the best paper on 'Inter-System Contracts and Organisational Requirements for Economic Operation of Inter-connected Systems'.
  • Dr. V. M. Ghatge prize for lecture on 'Automation in Power Systems Operations'.
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Centennial Gold Medal "for extraordinary achievement and deserving of special recognition".
  • Scroll of Honour from the Institution of Engineers, "for profound dedication to the progress and advancement of the engineering fraternity".
  • Electronics Man of the Year Award, The Electronic Component Industries Association, 1989.
  • Lifetime contribution to information technology, Dataquest, 1995.
  • QIMPRO Platinum Standard Award (QIMPRO Foundation) for Outstanding Contribution in the field of Quality, 1999.
  • National Award, Delhi Telugu Academy, 2000.
  • Juran Quality Award, Indian Merchants Chamber, 2000.
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian National Academy of Engineering, 2000.
  • Business Leadership Award, Madras Management Association, 2000.
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, World HRD Congress, 2001.
  • Vocational Excellence Award, Rotary Club of Mumbai Downtown, 2001.
  • National Citizens Award, "for outstanding contribution in the field of Information Technology", 2001.
  • Lifetime achievement award, The Economic Times, 2002[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "F C Kohli, Founder of TCS @ Rotman". Business Week. Archived from the original on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
  2. ↑ Cognizant rising by Chennai beach
  3. ↑ "FC Kohli honored with CSI Lifetime achievement award". Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Tata Consultancy Services Limited: The Pioneer in the Indian IT Industry". Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "TCS bags $536.5 million deal from UK's Network Rail". Times of India. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Personality of the Issue - Mr. F. C. Kohli". IEEE Bombay Section. March 1, 2002. Archived from the original on 24 November 2002. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Faqir Chand Kohli".
  8. 1 2 3 "DR. FAQIR CHAND KOHLI" (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "India's IT Guy As director of Tata Consultancy Services, F. C. Kohli, SM '50, launched the Indian IT outsourcing industry". Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "F C Kohli". Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  11. ↑ "Padma Awards Directory (1954-2013)" (PDF). India Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "FC Kohli Center on Intelligent Systems".
  13. ↑ TCS's F.C. Kohli gets honoured
  14. ↑ Dr F C Kohli conferred ET lifetime achievement award
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