“Securing the best of faculty developing industry-institution partnership and opting for newer technologies” - Vidya Yeravdekar, Joint Director, Symbiosis International University.

A gynecologist and lawyer by qualification, Vidya Yeravdekar has a formidable task on hand in terms of consolidation 'brand symbiosis', a brain child of her better known as educationalist father S. B. Mujumdar.

Management education is the USP of Symbiosis, which has invested close to Rs. 300 crore in campuses at Senapati Bapat Road, Vimannagar, Khadki and Lavle, covering over 30 academic institutions.

Symbiosis is now on way to establishing a pan-Indian growth as well as presence abroad. "Our campuses at Bangalore and Noida are nearing completion. Another one is in the pipeline for Hyderabad", said Yeravdekar. What makes her task formidable is, the replication of benchmarks set by Mujumdar in execution of projects and brand building, she explained.

A former botany professor from the Fergusson College, with little political and financial backing and a rural background, Mujumdar would wait patiently for hours outside the state secretariat in Mumbai to get his projects cleared by ministers and babus during the formative years of Symbiosis.

"I have a much easier task compared to what he faced," said Yeravdekar. She is not unduly worried about the prospect of foreign academic institutions entering India in future. "Competing with them and setting new benchmarks is a challenge but, the bigger task will be catering to the requirements of students, who are increasingly getting conscious about what they want," she said.

"Securing the best of faculty developing industry-institution partnership and opting for newer technologies to facilitate learning, will be other thrust areas," she said.

As a member on the Symbiosis board, the widly-travelled Yeravadkar is responsible for the overall planning and development of the organization and has been instrumental in effecting academic tie-ups.