Faqir Chand Kohli is an Indian businessman. He is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Indian Software Industry". He was the first General Manager of Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services Limited is a global IT services, business solutions and outsourcing company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology in Asia and second largest provider of business process outsourcing services in India...

, a leading Indian software consultancy company. He has also worked as the Deputy General Manager of the Tata Power Company

Tata Power

Tata Power is India’s oldest and largest private sector power utility with an installed generation capacity of over 2977 MW.On the 22 March 2011 it has announced partnership with Sunengy an Australian firm, to build India's first floating solar plant....

.

Education

F.C. Kohli did his BA and B.Sc. (Hons) from Punjab University, Lahore

University of the Punjab

University of the Punjab , colloquially known as Punjab University, is located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The University of the Punjab is the oldest and biggest University of Pakistan. The University of the Punjab was formally established with the convening of the first meeting of its...

. He completed his B.Sc. (Hons) in Electrical Engineering from Queen's University, Canada(1948), and subsequently did his MS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 (1950).

Positions held

• 1977 – Director, Tata Infotech Ltd.
• 1982 - Director, Bradma of India Ltd.
• 1988 - Chairman, WTI Advanced Technology Private Ltd.
• 1989 - Director, Tata Elxsi (I) Ltd.
• 1991 - Director, Tata Technologies (Pte) Ltd., Singapore.
• 1994 - Director, Triveni Engineering Works Ltd.
• 1999 - Director, HOTV Inc., US.
• 1999 – Director, Engineering Analysis Center of Excellence Pvt. Ltd.
• 1999 – Director, eBIZ Solutions Ltd.
• 2000 - Director, Edutech Informatics India (P) Ltd.
• 2000 - Director, Technosoft SA, Switzerland.
• 2000 - Director, Sun F&C Asset Management (I) Pvt. Ltd.
• 2000 - Director, Aerospace Systems Pvt. Ltd.
• 2002 - Director, Media Lab Asia Ltd.

Honors

Kohli has been awarded the Padma Bhushan

Padma Bhushan

The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...

, India's third-highest civilian honour, for his contribution to the Indian software industry. The awards were announced by the President of India on January 25, 2002, on the eve of India's Republic Day. He has also has been awarded honorary degrees from University of Waterloo

University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...

, Canada, Robert Gordon University, U.K

Robert Gordon University

Robert Gordon University is located in Aberdeen, Scotland. Building on over 250 years involvement in education, it was granted university status in 1992. Robert Gordon University currently has approximately 16,407 students at its two campuses at Garthdee and the City Centre, studying on over 145...

, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University , is a premier educational and research institution in India.It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal and comprises two campuses - the main campus at Jadavpur and the new campus at Salt Lake...

, Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

 and University of Roorkee. He is also a fellow of IEEE US, IEE UK, Institution of Engineers India, and Computer Society of India among others.

Other awards and honours:

• Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Award, 2000.
• 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
  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
  
   Centennial Gold Medal "for extraordinary achievement and deserving of special recognition".
• Scroll of Honour from the Institution of Engineers
  Institution of Engineers
  The Institution of Engineers is the national organization of engineering professionals in India. IEI has over 0.5 million members from 15 engineering disciplines in 99 centres/chapters in India and overseas; it is the largest multi-disciplinary engineering professional society in the...
  
  , "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
  Information technology
  Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
  
  , Dataquest
  Dataquest
  Dataquest is India's oldest IT publication. A fortnightly, Dataquest is published by Cyber Media India Ltd, South Asia's largest specialty media group. The magazine targets senior IT managers in user organizations as well as the IT industry professionals in India.Dataquest has grown with the Indian...
  
  , 1995.
• QIMPRO Platinum Standard Award (QIMPRO Foundation) for Outstanding Contribution in the field of Quality, 1999.
• National Award, Delhi Telugu
  Telugu people
  The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
  
   Academy, 2000.
• Juran Quality Award, Indian Merchants Chamber, 2000.
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian National Academy of Engineering
  Indian National Academy of Engineering
  The Indian National Academy of Engineering was founded in 1987 with the aim of promoting and advancing the practice of engineering and technology in the country....
  
  , 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
  The Economic Times
  The Economic Times is an English-language Indian daily newspaper published by the Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.. The Economic Times was started in 1961. It is the most popular and widely read financial daily in India, read by more than 8 lakh people...
  
  , 2002

External links

• Profile on Queens University website
• http://www.icssingapore.org/Adv_FCK.htm
• http://appsci.queensu.ca/alumni/profiles/kohli/