z_NR Narayana Murthy
Narayana Murthy was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Unilever in 2007. He is also a member of Unilever’s Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Committee.
Non-Executive Director
Narayana was born in 1946. He holds a BE from the University of Mysore and a masters of technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India.
Narayana is the chairman and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd, the company he co-founded in India in 1981 and served as its chief executive officer for 20 years. Under his leadership, Infosys was listed on NASDAQ in 1999.
Narayana is the chairman of the governing body of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore and a member of boards including those of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Cornell, Stanford, Yale, INSEAD, University of Tokyo and the Asian Institute of Management.
His directorships include the Asia Pacific advisory board of British Telecommunications plc and he is a non-executive director of HSBC Holdings plc. He serves as a member of the Indian Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, and as a member of the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation. Narayana is also chairman of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore.
Narayana has received numerous awards and honours. The Economist ranked him 8th in the list of the top 15 most admired global leaders in 2005. The same year, the Financial Times ranked him 28th among the world's most-respected business leaders. In 2006, TIME magazine recognised him as an 'Asian hero' who has brought about revolutionary changes in the continent in the last 60 years. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by several well-known universities in India and abroad.
