Benjamin Bailey Memorial Lecture & Bailey Award Ceremony
The Benjamin Bailey Memorial Lecture and Bailey Award Ceremony conducted on January 21, 2023, at the Great Hall, celebrated the founder Principal of CMS College, Rev Benjamin Bailey.
The Benjamin Bailey Memorial lectures have become an exciting and prestigious event with the presence of nationally and internationally acclaimed public figures from different fields and walks of life.
This year, the lecture was delivered by Sri Venu Rajamony IFS, a career diplomat with over thirty-five years of experience, a scholar of international relations, and a former journalist who is currently serving as the Officer on Special Duty (in the rank of Chief Secretary), External Cooperation at the Government of Kerala and Professor of Diplomatic Practice at the Jindal Global Law School of the O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana. The topic of the lecture was “In the footsteps of Benjamin Bailey – Para diplomacy that connects Kerala to the world “.
The Bailey award is instituted by the management of CMS College to recognize the contribution of the students, alumni, teachers, or non-teaching faculty members for their accomplishments at the international level. This award aims to inspire the CMS community to work diligently toward greater heights in academics, research, and professional accomplishments.
The award recipients are unmatched in their field of expertise —just like Rev Benjamin Bailey whose unmatched power and determination, took the college to greater heights. The award recipients of Bailey Award 2020-21 are Prof. Dr. Sabu Thomas, Dr. Mohan Thomas Pakalomattom, Reema Poddar and Dr. Laly A Pothen.
Prof. Sabu Thomas is one of India’s most renowned scientists known for his contributions in polymer science and Nanotechnology. He is a scientist, administrator and an excellent teacher who has students all over the world. Recently, he has been ranked 114th in the list of the world’s best scientists that has been compiled by Stanford University in the US. He figures in the list as the second-best scientist in India in the field of polymer science. I am proud to say that Dr. Sabu Thomas is an alumnus of our college.
Dr. Mohan Thomas, an alumnus of the pre-degree batch of the CMS College Kottayam, who is an Otolaryngologist and philanthropist based in Doha, has been conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians by the President of India, for his noble services in medicine. For more than 40 years, the famous doctor and community leader in Qatar and moreover the President of Indian Sports Center Dr. Mohan Thomas was also one of the hosts of World Cup fans.
Dr. Laly A. Pothen, a research guide at the Department of Chemistry, CMS College, Kottayam, is among the top 2 percent of the most cited research scientists in the world. This list was published by Stanford University in November 2020.
Reema Poddar is the co-founder of AdFender Inc. and has been its COE for nearly 7 years. She is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including California’s top business technology leadership excellence award, top 50 California diverse leader award, induction into the Hall of Fame list-top 100 Asian Americans, most powerful women in technology, most impactful business and technology leadership award; to name a few.
The ceremony was presided over by the Principal, Dr. Varghese C. Joshua and the Benedictory address were delivered by the manager and Bishop of CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Malayil Sabu Koshy Cherian.
