India has begun preparations to celebrate the 100th birthday of Spartan Engineer Verghese Kurien and the 75th anniversary of the international business he created, Amul.
Kurien (Nov. 26, 1921 - Sept. 9, 2012) is considered one of MSU's most noted graduates. He received a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1948, returned to his home country of India, and advanced the common good with uncommon will in ways that are still celebrated annually.
Kurien is known as the "Milkman of India" and the father of the "white revolution." The white in that revolution is milk.
After graduating from MSU, he began a job as a dairy engineer in India in a small government creamery. His efforts to organize better treatment of dairy producers in India changed the course of history in India by developing the rural economy and providing fresher and safer milk for millions.
As Spartan Magazine editor Tim Cerullo '08 writes in a Sept. 30 article:
As rural farmers organized local cooperatives, Kurien orchestrated an effort to take ownership of their product, bringing everything in-house. He used his engineering background to build processing plants, and his entrepreneurial mindset to set up marketing campaigns and shipping schematics.
From a small milk cooperative, Kurien built the internationally renowned Amul dairy cooperative in Anand that blossomed into a movement of millions of farmers in rightful control of their milk.
To read more on Kurien's influential business model - and how MSU continues to have a global role in food safety and distribution - check out Cerullo's feature story: A Body of Good.