Imperial alumnus named CEO of the Year

Meher Pudumjee, chair of Thermax, honoured by Business Standard

Monday 14 September 2009
By Abigail Smith

Imperial alumnus Meher Pudumjee has been named ‘CEO of the Year’ by the Business Standard, India’s leading business-focused newspaper.

Ms Pudumjee, chair of energy and environmental engineering company Thermax, was recognised for steadily increasing the firm’s sales and profits, and achieving this commercial success without compromising on corporate ethics.

She took the top job in 2004, having joined Thermax in 1990 as a trainee engineer after completing her postgraduate studies in chemical engineering at Imperial. Her progression through the company included a stint managing Thermax’s UK subsidiary, before returning to India in 1996 to join the board of directors.

Ms Pudumjee balances her work commitments with a passion for music, and is both a keen piano player and an enthusiastic member of the Pune Choir Group Chambers. She believes that music has a lot of lessons for life in general, commenting:

“In the UK, where I was studying, there was a piano competition for which I decided to play the Moonlight Sonata. I was practicing but was not happy. My father encouraged me by even hiring a place where I could practice. But the most important lesson he taught me was when he said play to express and not to impress. These words have stayed with me forever and I have learnt to put in my best, enjoy what I am doing and not to go after public applause.”

Read the Business Standard article here