Biography kiran mazumdar shaw

When Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw became managing director for Biocon India, she referred to the business in newspaper ads as a “multinational company.” What the ad did not mention, however, was that Biocon India was operating out of her home garage.

With her family’s encouragement but some trepidation, Mazumdar-Shaw attended Ballarat University in Australia and earned the title of master brewer. After returning to India and facing difficulties in getting a brewery management position because of her gender, Mazumdar-Shaw turned to Europe.

After deciding to try her luck in Scotland, a chance meeting with Leslie Auchincloss, founder of the biotechnology company Biocon Biochemicals, changed her direction.

A New Biotech Enterprise

In 1978, at the suggestion of Auchincloss, Mazumdar-Shaw became managing director for Biocon India, now that country’s leading biotechnology enterprise. From its first home in Mazumdar-Shaw’s garage the industrial enzyme business grew exponentially.

Today Biocon delivers world-class therapeutics to patients around the globe, is India’s largest producer of insulin, and has pioneered the world’s only Pichia-based recombinant human insulin, which is now available in over 40 countries. Mazumdar-Shaw is the chairman and managing director of the company.

Achievements and Recognition

Mazumdar-Shaw, who has made affordable innovation the foundation of her business model, was most recently named the EY World

A successful technocrat of global standing, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw heads India’s leading Biotechnology enterprise, Biocon. She is highly respected in the corporate world and has been named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Recently, Economic Times placed her at India Inc’s top 10 most powerful women CEO for the year 2012. Her pioneering efforts in biotechnology have drawn global recognition both for Indian Industry and Biocon.

She chairs Karnataka’s Vision Group on Biotechnology and also served on the Board of Science Foundation, Ireland. She presently serves on the Advisory Council of the Government’s Department of Biotechnology where she has been instrumental in bringing government, industry and academia together, to chart a clear and progressive growth path for Biotechnology in India. She is also part of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry in India and the US-India CEO Forum. She serves as a Member, Governing Body and General Body of the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, an Autonomous Body of the Government of India. She is also a member of the Union Commerce Ministry-instituted committee to advise the government on India’s export promotion strategy.

She is a member of committee of Indian National Corporate governance policy to prepare a draft for a concept paper. She serves as a Member of the Eminent Persons Group of the Competition Commission of India, New Delhi. She’s also on the honorary Board of advisors of The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), USA. Ms. Shaw serves as a co-opted member on the new Board of governors of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
She is a founder member of the Society for the formation of “Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine”. She has been nominated as Member of the Board of Trade, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Moreover, she is serving on the G

Brewer and biotechnologist, BCAE student, 1974

Recipient of a University of Ballarat Honorary Doctorate (2004)

After several attempts to enrol in medical schools Kiran Mazumdar decided to focus on biology. In 1973 she received a graduate honours degree in zoology from Bangalore University. The following year she followed in her father's footsteps by starting her professional career as a trainee brewer at Carlton and United Beverages in Melbourne, Australia. In the meantime she also completed a Diploma of Malting and Brewing at the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education (BCAE), one of the University of Ballarat's predecessors.

In 1974 Mazumdar-Shaw was the only woman enrolled in the brewing course at BCAE. Her diligence paid off when she managed to top the class, and vital knowledge and understandings acquired during her course have subsequently contributed to other successes. On 13 December 2004 the University of Ballarat recognised Mazumdar-Shaw's pre-eminent contribution to the field of biotechnology when she was presented with an Honorary Doctorate.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw became India's first woman brew master upon her graduation in 1975. However, the brewing industry was an all-male domain and there were few career opportunities available to women at that time. After a series of rebuffs from the industry she turned her skills to the emerging biotechnology sector, becoming one of the earliest women to enter the sector when it was in its infancy globally.

In 1978 she joined Biocon Biochemicals Ltd in Ireland as a trainee manager. A friend then persuaded to set up an export-orientated plant for her employer and this inspired her to establish Biocon India Ltd in collaboration with the Irish company, using seeding money secured from Irish scientist entrepreneur, Les Auchincloss.

Mazumdar's previous experience in the brewing industry underpinned the co-invention of a unique cauldron based on fermentation techniques, which led in

Indian entrepreneur

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (born 23 March 1953) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur. She is the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India and the former chairperson of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. In 2014, she was awarded the Othmer Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to the progress of science and chemistry. She was on the Financial Times 2011 top 50 women in business list. In 2019, she was listed as the 68th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. She was named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020. She was married to John Shaw.

As of 2024, Mazumdar-Shaw is ranked 91st-wealthiest in India, with a net worth of $3.6 billion.

Early life and education

Kiran Mazumdar was born on 23 March 1953 in Bangalore, Karnataka state, to Gujarati parents. She was educated at Bangalore's Bishop Cotton Girl's High School, graduating in 1968. She then attended Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, a women's college offering pre-university courses as an affiliate of Bangalore University. She studied biology and zoology, graduating from Bangalore University with a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1973. Mazumdar hoped to go to medical school, but was not able to obtain a scholarship.

Her father, Rasendra Mazumdar, was the head brewmaster at United Breweries. He suggested that she study fermentation science, and train to be a brewmaster, a very non-traditional field for women. Mazumdar went to Ballarat College, Melbourne University in Australia to study malting and brewing. In 1974, she was the only woman enrolled