We are delighted to share with the IIM Ahmedabad alumni community that Arun Wakhlu (PGP 1980) has been conferred the first Dr Udai Pareek Award for Institution Building and Human Development, instituted by the National HRD Network under the Udai Pareek Memorial Endowment.
The award has been instituted in the centenary year of Dr Udai Pareek (1925–2025), widely regarded as the pioneer of the HRD movement in India. It recognises individuals whose life and work exemplify service beyond self, role efficacy, ethical leadership, and holistic human development …values that Dr Pareek stood for with extraordinary clarity and courage.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (PGP 1980), Mr Wakhlu has expressed deep gratitude to his ancestors, colleagues, teachers, and his alma mater, which shaped his early thinking on leadership, ethics, and institution building. He also had the privilege of returning to IIMA as a faculty member, teaching Corporate Ethics (PGPX) and Managerial Oral Communication (PGP). He has contributed extensively to the leadership ecosystem through public governance, corporate leadership development, and institution building via Pragati Leadership.
He views this honour not as a personal milestone, but as an affirmation of a lifelong commitment to values-based leadership and learning, human flourishing, and building institutions that serve society with integrity and compassion.
