1996 - Ph.D - Chemistry Senior Vice President, Monomers-Asia Pacific @ BASF, Hong Kong
Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from IIT Madras in 1996. Prior to this, he completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in the field from Guru Nanak College, Chennai in 1988 and 1990, respectively. He secured the second rank at University level during his post-graduate degree. Following his doctoral studies, he pursued an education in Management, graduating from the Management Development Program in IIM Ahmedabad in 2002. Based on his doctoral work, he was awarded the ‘Best Project Presentation’ on Colloid Science by the University of Bristol, UK in the summer of 1997.
Dr. Dhruva joined BASF soon after the completion of his doctorate, entering as a Research & Development chemist in the Polymer Research Laboratory. In the years that followed, he also received training at the organization’s offices at Ludwighafen, Germany and began climbing the corporate ladder. He held positions of Deputy Plant Manager and Product Development Manager in Germany before returning to India as Product Manager, later being named CEO of BASF Coatings. Between 2008 and 2012, he also served as the Regional Vice President (Asia Pacific) for the Automotive and Industrial Coatings business. This gradual ascent in his career trajectory has culminated in his position today as the Senior Vice President at BASF Asia Pacific. In this position, he is responsible for the newly created monomer business of the organization spanning countries such as India, China, Korea, Japan, and other parts of South Asia, employing more than 1200 personnel.
Over the years, Dr. Dhruva has also held various positions of responsibility within the organization, including as member on multiple Boards of Directors, as Global Key Account Manager for numerous leading brands including Tata and Jaguar, and as the representative of the organization at the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce (FICCI) for two years. He was also an invited member of the Bureau of Indian Standards CED 41 Committee, responsible for setting standards for waterproofing materials.
Dr. Dhruva’s journey at BASF has been one of tremendous growth, each step bringing with it larger teams, higher sales and increased responsibility. Time and again, he has delivered, growing from strength to strength within the organization, thriving in intercultural teams and business environments. For his pursuit of growth and excellence, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer upon him this award.
