Dr. Achyutananda Samanta (April 19, 1965 (age 46)) is a well known social entrepreneur

Social entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship is the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change . While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a...

 in the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

. He is the founder of KIIT Group of Institutions

KIIT Group of Institutions

KIIT Group of Institutions is a group of institutions run by KIIT Education Society in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. It includes KIIT University, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and other institutes....

 which includes KIIT University and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences.

Early life

Samanta was born to Late Shri Anadi Charan Samanta and Smt. Nilima Rani Samanta in the village of Kalarabanka in Cuttack

Cuttack

Cuttack is the former capital of the state of Orissa, India. It is the headquarters of Cuttack district and is located about 20 km to the north east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. The name of the city is an anglicised form of Kataka that literally means The Fort, a reference to the...

 District of Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

 in 1965. He lost his father at the age of four, grew up in abject poverty with the widowed mother trying to make both ends meet. M.Sc (Chemistry) from Utkal University Decade long experience in teaching in colleges ( mostly Maharshi college )under Utkal University

Utkal University

Utkal University, Bhubaneswar is the oldest university in Orissa and the 17th oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating university that has produced some of the best brains in Orissa. There are at 26 post-graduate departments at the university campus for studies and research in...

, Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...

. He remained bachelor still.

Present position

He is a Professor in Chemistry, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar as well as Visiting Professor, Open International University, Colombo he is the Founder & Former Chancellor of KIIT University and the member of University Grants Commission

UGC

UGC is the second largest cinema operator in Europe with, as of August 2005, 49 sites and 553 screens across four countries:* France: 37 cinemas, 357 screens* Spain: 5 cinemas, 88 screens* Belgium: 3 cinemas, 43 screens* Italy: 4 cinemas, 66 screens...

, AICTE and CAPART

Awards And Records

Samanta received a number of awards, created new records in the field of social entrepreneur. Dr. A. Samanta has been mentioned among top 15 social entrepreneurs of the world by Edge Foundation, Inc.

Edge Foundation, Inc.

The Edge Foundation, Inc. is an organization of science and technology intellectuals created in 1988 as an outgrowth of The Reality Club. Its motto is 'To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together and have them ask...

, USA . Dr.Achyuta Samanta, has earned a place in The Limca Book of Records as the youngest chancellor of any University in India.

Awards

• The Times of India Orissa Icon 2011 Awards (Social Service)
• Swami Vivekananda National Award by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, Govt. of Karnataka -2010
• Asia’s Best Social Entrepreneur - 2010 by the World HRD Congress.
• Degree of Honorary Doctorate from Hanseo University, South Korea - 2010
• National Young EDGE Award-2010 by Emerging Direction of Global Education (EDGE) for outstanding contribution in Education.
• Gandhi Seva Medal for 2009 by Gandhi Global Family in recognition of Philanthropic and Charitable works for the downtrodden.
• Degree of Honorary Doctorate from National University of Cambodia-2009.
• Nominated for International WISE Awards-2009, Qatar Foundation, Doha.
• Nominated for UK-India Business Awards-2009
• Humanitarian Award for the year 2004 from Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organization, Johannesburg South Africa.
• Honorary Ph.D and D.Sc from OIU Colombo in 2002 and 2005 respectively.
• Pursuing D.Litt. under Banaras Hindu University (Thesis already submitted)
• Nadighosh Award-2002 in recognition of Social Entrepreneurship from Atomic Energy Scientist, Dr. Raja Ramanna.
• Prananath Award-2002 for outstanding Social Service from the Governor, Orissa.
• Rajiv Gandhi Award-2001 for Education
• Glory of India Award -2007 by Indian International Friendship Society, London
• Hind Ratna Award-2007 by International Congress of NRI , New Delhi
• Nominated for The ETV Priya Oriya 2007
• Several Other State Level awards from distinguished personalities