About a month ago, I woke up to an unexpected email from Dr. Ravi Gudi, Dean of Alumni and Corporate Relations at IIT Bombay. He informed me that I had been selected to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award (DAA) in recognition of what he described as my “exceptional contributions in Academia.”

This honor came as a complete surprise—I had no idea I was even being considered, nor who had put forward my nomination.

A key reason why this recognition is meaningful to me is because it underscores how transformational my time at the Industrial Design Center at IIT Bombay (now called IDC School of Design) was for me. As I’ve shared in various forums—my TED Talk: How to design a school for the future, my essay “My Favorite Failure,” and during a presentation at IDC’s 50th Anniversary celebration (Designing pencils, universities and everything in between)—those years fundamentally shaped my perspective, approach, and trajectory in profound ways.

The award ceremony was held earlier today in Mumbai, a part of IIT Bombay’s Foundation Day celebrations. You can see the recorded livestream here. Since I was unable to to travel to India for the event I was asked to record a video message that was presented during the ceremony.

I’ve included the video and the script I drafted for it below, though I should note that my actual recording likely included some spontaneous reflections beyond these written words.

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Script: Final version

Let me begin by thanking all of you for this honor. I am sorry I cannot be there for the event – but I am glad to join in virtually to express my gratitude to the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay for this award.

My name in Punya Mishra and I am a professor of education at Arizona State University.

This award is deeply meaningful to me – and to understand why I will need to take you back to May of 1984. I was a 22 year old recent graduate with an engineering degree – but truly considered myself a failure. I wasn’t sure what it is that I wanted to do – or even what I was good for.

But by the September of the same year, just months after joining the then called Industrial Design Center, now IDC School of Design, Master of Design program, I knew I had arrived. I had discovered not just a career, but an identify, a community and an intellectual home.

I had not changed. That could not have happened in just a few months.

What HAD changed was the system around me. At IDC, my diverse interests – from poetry to physics, from art to mathematics, from film to psychology – weren’t distractions but strengths—and in the right context could be sources of creativity and innovation. 

I was also fortunate to learn in IDC’s open, flexible spaces from truly extraordinary faculty – Nadkarni, Rao, RK, KT, Ravi – names I still revere today. Through their wisdom and mentorship, they showed me how to see the world through the lens of design – not just as a profession, but as a way of being. They lived it themselves, and very soon it was a part of my identity – and stays so even today.

I am an educator, and this idea of design transformed not just my life, but my entire understanding of education and failure. It taught me a profound truth: when individuals fail, it’s often the system that has failed them.

And this insight has driven my life’s work, that of creating just and equitable educational systems. When we see someone struggling, the question should never be ‘What’s wrong with the person?’ but rather “What is wrong with the system? And how can we design it, redesign it to make it better.”

It is clear to me that everything I’ve accomplished since then (including this award) traces back to those transformative years in the MDes program.

And to be honest, those years weren’t all deep thinking about design – there was lots of late nights and just hanging out. IDC was also where I made some lifelong friends – and most importantly where I met Smita, my wife. We are also proud parents of two children Soham and Shreya – and I think the two of THEM owe their very existence to IDC.

It is in IDC, that I found my purpose, my path, and my partner. For all of this, and more I am eternally grateful.

Thank you.