This is CEO week here at Immigrant of the Day :-).
Actually, thanks go to reader USC who provided the tip that Citigroup has tapped Indian immigrant Vikram Pandit to take over the company and steer it through the troubled waters of the subprime lending crisis. Pandit, a native of Nagpur, India, came to the US to study electrical engineering at Columbia and eventually went on to get a Ph.D. in finance from the same university. Prior to joining Citi, he served as the head of institutional investing at Morgan Stanley. Foreign students staying on and eventually rising through the ranks of America's top companies to take senior leadership positions has become a hot and encouraging trend. It's showing that we're attracting the brightest and most capable from around the world and these folks are also helping to influence the global outlook of the companies as American firms compete in international markets. Perhaps our consular officers should pay heed to this trend and think about the fact that the young graduate student denied a student visa today may be a CEO in twenty years. Congrats, Mr. Pandit.
more details
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/249803.html
Posted by: Lou | December 13, 2007 at 10:01 AM
Hello all,
Congrats to Vikram Pandit for reaching another milestone in Finance, his brilliance in Money management is second to none and i have a deep respect for him, he is fortright, yet humble am sure he will take Citi Group to the next level. Citi Group has chosen well and am sure Mr Vikram will turn things around.
Carmo (Bombay)
Canada
Posted by: Carmo Nunes | December 12, 2007 at 09:29 PM
Its an half-backed idea, I admit. And I am not a social scientist.
A reason, I think Indian EBs are so indifferent to their own condition has to do with their background. We all know of the disparities in Indian society. The ones that complete college education typically are from well to do middle class family. Most students that do well in exams and get into good schools is because of the extra money the parents spend on private tuition and what not.
In most households, the good students' only responsibility is to study. Forget about doing anything for the community or the society, they don't even have to do any household chores. My only participation has been in two political rallies in India, and then I had to curtail those activities to concentrate on the life changing "board exam"
So, we have a bunch of EB Indians who only learned to study, and work for employers facing a situation as adults that require them to get involved in a political processes as a community. The only struggle in life most EB Indians faced so far is to really concentrate on their studies. My poor friends who had to walk miles to fetch water in the morning before school had very little chance of completing school.
Posted by: indian | December 12, 2007 at 07:07 AM
Look, they don't even know how much they will pay him: http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/12/11/citigroup.pandit.ap/ .
I suppose he will work for less than other available CEOs. DOL should open an investigation.
Posted by: Sarc | December 11, 2007 at 10:20 PM
Well said Greg. EBs think that it's someone else's responsibility to lobby for them because they are so damn important to this country.
Posted by: Sid | December 11, 2007 at 07:00 PM
The Visa Bulletin story is not going to change in the few hours I take off in the late afternoon to exercise, go home and enjoy dinner with my family and then get back to the computer. I don't know why folks are acting like this is a a surprise. The fact that 300,000 applications were filed this summer is an indicator of the massive number of cases in the pipeline. I've been telling Indian clients 5 to 10 years will be the new normal unless Congress resolves.
Keep in mind, however, that immigration lawyers won't be able to solve the problem. This is a political problem that can only be solved when immigrants themselves and their employers, families and friends get organized enough to make members of Congress pay attention. THere are far more pro-immigration people out there than anti and until the whole immigrant community unites (including cutting out the illegal v. legal nonsense that only serves to weaken and divide), the antis will win the day.
Posted by: Greg Siskind | December 11, 2007 at 05:44 PM
I dont think Greg has gotten around to reading the blog entries yet ... givem a break .... you should see more stakeholders speaking out when this spreads like fire... not that the VB mess was totally out of the blue ... it was bound to happen
"If immigration lawyers are ignoring the visa bulletin mess, then why should the congressmen care? "
Posted by: lacrossegc | December 11, 2007 at 05:42 PM
If immigration lawyers are ignoring the visa bulletin mess, then why should the congressmen care?
Posted by: itt | December 11, 2007 at 04:58 PM
And the bulletin sucks big time
Posted by: lacrossegc | December 11, 2007 at 03:38 PM
greg, visa bulletin is out
Posted by: john | December 11, 2007 at 02:51 PM
I had seen the headline on CNBC but the link to the NY Times story is really good. Nice link, Greg. His circumstances/background have a particular resonance for me ;-)
Posted by: USC | December 11, 2007 at 01:12 PM
Amazing !!! simply amazing ... true meritocracy.... who said there is a glass ceiling.... glass ceilings are meant to be broken :)
Posted by: lacrossegc | December 11, 2007 at 12:54 PM