Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Founder & chairperson of Biocon

Net worth: US$1.2 billion (2016)

Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has entered the elite ranks of the Indian business world as India's richest woman. Born on 23 March, 1953, she is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd. She did her schooling from Bangalore and graduated in Zoology from Bangalore University in 1973, after which she moved on to Ballarat University in Melbourne, Australia. She became India's first woman Brew Master and started off as a trainee brewer in Carlton & United Beverages in 1974, following which she worked in various positions in Kolkata and Vadodara.

She collaborated with Biocon Biochemicals Limited, Ireland, to found Biocon India in 1978. Initially, she faced many problems, but she was not the one to give up. Her firm has grown to be the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in India today. Though her business interests keep her occupied, she has found time to write a book titled 'Ale and Arty'. She tied the knot with John Shaw, in 1998, who was working as the managing director of Madura Coats. After their marriage, John Shaw quit Madura Coat and joined Biocon.

A very active social activist, she has been involved in various projects like the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF). She was awarded the MV Memorial Award, given in honour of the great engineer and visionary Sir M Vishwesharaiah. Apart from this, she was awarded the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award in 2006, the Padma Bhushan in 2005, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 2005, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Healthcare & Life Sciences Category in 2002 besides the Padma Shri in 1989.

Dr. Kiran Majumdar-Shaw has held several honorary and advisory positions. Among them, she was the Chairperson and Mission Leader of the Confederation of Indian Industry's National Task Force on Biotechnology, a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry in India, Member, Board of Science Foundation, Ireland , Member, Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore and many others. In doing so, she has set an example for other Indian women to follow

Awards and honours

As of 2010, Mazumdar-Shaw was named among TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. She is on the 2011 Financial Times’ top 50 women in business list. As of 2014, she was listed as the 92nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. In 2015, she had risen to 85th in the Forbes ranking. She was voted global Indian of the year by Pharma Leaders Magazine in 2012.

International awards

Mazumdar-Shaw is the recipient of several international awards including the Othmer Gold Medal (2014) for outstanding contributions to the progress of science and chemistry, the Nikkei Asia Prize (2009) for regional growth, the ‘Veuve Clicquot Initiative For Economic Development For Asia' Award (2007), Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare (2002), and 'Technology Pioneer' recognition by World Economic Forum (2002). In May 2015 Federation University Australia (formerly the University of Ballarat) named a road in its Mt Helen campus as Mazumdar Drive. Kiran and Shaw attended the opening ceremony.

Indian awards

Her work in the biotechnology sector has earned her numerous national awards, including the Padma Shri (1989) and the Padma Bhushan (2005) from the government of India. She was given the Economic Times Award for 'Businesswoman of the Year' in 2004. At the Pharmaleaders Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit she was named "Global Indian Woman of the Year" (2012); she also received the Express Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit Award for "Dynamic Entrepreneur" in 2009. The Indian Merchants' Chamber Diamond Jubilee Endowment Trust's Eminent Businessperson of the Year Award was presented to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in 2006 by the Governor of Maharashtra, S. M. Krishna. She also has received the Indian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), the 'Corporate Leadership Award' by the American India Foundation (2005). and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (2002).

Honorary degrees

Mazumdar-Shaw received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Ballarat University in 2004, in recognition of her contributions to biotechnology. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Abertay, Dundee, UK (2007), the University of Glasgow, UK (2008), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK (2008) and University College Cork, Ireland (2012). She received an honorary doctorate from Davangere University, India, at its first convocation, July 2013, in recognition of her contribution in the field of biotechnology.