Graduation for students at Institute of Hotel Management in Aurangabad

Huddersfield Business School has partnered with the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) in Aurangabad, a city in Maharashtra State, India, for over 20 years. Students there undertake BA (Hons) Culinary Arts and BA (Hons) Hotel Management obtaining their degrees from the University of Huddersfield.

Graduation Day for the IHM Class of 2020 was a little unusual this year. Because of the on-going Covid pandemic the graduation ceremony was held on a virtual platform on 7^th August 2021. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to celebrate with 102 graduates who were conferred the degree of BA (Hons) Hotel Management and 53 graduates who received the award of BA (Hons) Culinary Arts.

This was the first ceremony since the sad demise of Chairman Dr (Mrs) Fatma Rafiq Zakaria and it was appropriate to take the time to remember her through the glowing tributes offered by Dr A G Khan.

As always, various prizes were awarded to outstanding students. The Dr Rafiq Zakaria Award for Academic Excellence was awarded to Aditya Singh (Hotel Management) and Apeksha Chauhan (Culinary Arts). The R K Krishnakumar Award for Excellence in Hotel Management was awarded to Chirag Patel. The Dr. (Mrs.) Fatma Rafiq Zakaria Award for All Round Performance by a Female Student was awarded to Simrat Kaur Lamba (Hotel Management) and Purvi Arora (Culinary Arts). Prizes to the top three students in Culinary Arts went to Apeksha Chauhan, Purvi Arora, and Anahita Handa & Nidhee Gohil. Prizes to the top three students in Hotel Management went to Aditya Singh, Chirag Patel, and Kunwar Talwar. Many congratulations to all our prize-winners!

Professor Jill Johnes commented: “It’s always a pleasure to see and celebrate the achievements of our students in Aurangabad. This was the first time the Graduation was online rather than in person, but it was nevertheless a great celebration of students who have graduated despite the difficult times we live in.”