Notable Alumni

Pritam ChakrabortyPritam was born in a middle class Bengali family to Anuradha Chakraborty and Prabodh Chakraborty. His father, who was an insurance officer, used to teach light music on western instruments to young kids for a nominal fee, till an accident forced him to quit his job and concentrate on the meager earnings from his music school. Pritam gained his early training in music from his father and learned to play the guitar while he was still in school. After completing his schooling at St. James' School and Graduating in Geology in 1992 from Presidency College, Pritam dropped out of his M.Sc. classes in 1993 to chart a career of his choice from FTII, Pune where he took up Sound Recording and Engineering in 1994.

Azar ZiaSt. James' School adds one more feather to its crown as one of its alumni Azar Zia cracks top level civil service examination of the country IAS with a rank of 97 and as a top-drawer of Bengal.

Somnath BharadwajSomnath Bharadwaj is a noted Indian theoretical physicist whose work lies in the fields of cosmology and theoretical astrophysics. After graduating from St. James’ School, he studied at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and received his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science. He is currently a professor at IIT Kharagpur in the Department of Physics and Meterology, where his research is focused on using low frequency radi telescopes.

Rajesh GopakumarRajesh Gopakumar is an Indian theoretical physicist who has the distinction of achieving All India Rank (AIR) 1 in the national entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in 1987. He received his M.Sc from IIT Kanpur and his PhD from Princeton University. He was a research associate at Harvard University under the noted American physicist David Gross and was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Apart from being a member of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences, he also serves as the Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) in Bangalore. Known for his work on topological string theory, he has received numerous awards such as the 2004 B.M. Birla Science Prize in Physics, 2006 ICTP Prize, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 2009 and the TWAS Prize in Physics in 2013. He was also named Fellow of the Global Young Academy of Scientists for 2010.

Sanjeev SanyalSanjeev Sanyalis the Principal Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. A Rhodes Scholar and Eisenhower Fellow, he was named Young Global Leader 2010by the World Economic Forum at Davos. He is known for his acclaimed books such as ‘The Indian Renaissance: India's Rise after a Thousand Years of Decline’, ‘Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India's Geography’ and ‘The Incredible History of India's Geography’ among others. He also serves as the co-chair of the Framework Working Group of the G20 and represents India on a number of international forums. He has been member of the Steering Committee of Urban Ageat LSE Cities and is also a Senior Fellow of the World Wildlife Fund. He is the co-founder and Director of GIST - a think-tank that is a pioneer in the field of environmental accounting. He writes columns for various publications such as the Times of India, Business Standard and Live Mint among others.In 2008, CNBC profiled him as a "Young Turk" in recognition to his contributions to Asia's financial markets.The Singapore government honored him as a Young Leader 2014 at the World Cities Summit held in June 2014. He has also the distinction of having been a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford where he has also been a Visiting Fellow in addition to being an Adjunct Fellow at the National University of Singapore.

Arjun AtwalArjun Atwal is a professional Indian golfer. In 1995 he became one of the leading players on the Asian Tour, topping the order of merit in 2003 and becoming the first man to win a million U.S. dollars on the tour by winning the Hero Honda Masters on home soil in the same year. Atwal was the second Indian golfer to earn membership of the European Tourand the first to win on a European Tour event. In 2003, Atwal finished seventh at the PGA Tour's qualifying school in the U.S., earning a PGA Tour card for 2004, making him the first native East Indian golfer to do so. He is the first player born in India to become a member of, and later win a tournament on the U.S.-based PGA tour. Such feats have established him as one of the most noted Indian golfers of all time.

Sujoy GhoshSujoy Ghosh is an Indian film director, actor, producer and screenwriter. Ghosh made his directorial debut in 2003 with the small-budget Jhankaar Beats- a tribute to R.D. Burman which went on to become a surprise hit. Since then he has gone to work on several Bollywood movies such as Home Delivery(2005), Aladin (2009), Kahaani (2012), Kahaani 2 (2016) and Badla (2019) among others. He has worked with some of the biggest names in the Indian film industry. Many of his works have gone on to garner much critical and commercial success. His tagline "KorboLorboJeetbo Re" for Bengal’s IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders has gone on to become one of the most popular ones among the country’s sports fans.

Ashish DhawanAshish Dhawan is an Indian private equity investor and philanthropist who co-founded and ran one of India's leading private equity funds. He established Central Square Foundation, a grant-making organization and policy think tank focused on transforming the quality of school education in India. After finishing school, he went on to graduate magna cum laude from Yale University with a dual bachelor's degree. In 1997, he completed an MBA from Harvard Business School(HBS), graduating with distinction. He currently serves on the advisory board of HBS Club of India and is a member of Yale's Development Council. In 2010, Dhawan co-founded the Young India Fellowship, a one-year residential multidisciplinary postgraduate programme with a focus on experiential learning and an aim to develop the next generation of India's leaders. Dhawan is also one of the the founders of India’s first liberal arts university- Ashoka University (2014). In 2012, Dhawan was recognized as the NextGen Leader in Philanthropy by Forbes Indiafor his charitable work.[2] He also placed 15th on the 2014 Hurun India Philanthropy List, a ranking of the most generous individuals in India produced by China-based Hurun Research Institute.

Rohit DasguptaRohit Dasgupta was one of the first Bengalis from West Bengal, India to contest the British Parliamentary elections.He was elected as a Labour and Co-operative Party Councillor in the London Borough of Newhamfor the Canning Town South Ward in the 2018 local elections in the United Kingdom.Dasgupta is Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Global Communication and Development at Loughborough University. He has previously worked at the prestigious Winchester School of Art University of Southampton; University of the Arts London and University of Sussex. He contested the Parliamentary seat of East Hampshire for the Labour Party in 2017, coming second with an increase of 7% vote share.He is also Secretary of the Newham Branch of the Fabian Society. In 2019 he was selected as a MEP candidate for the South East region (5th on the list).

Sagar DaryaniThe origins of India’s most famous chain momo joints- Wow! Momo- can be traced to its humble origins on the very premises of St.James’ where Daryani- a school student back then- used to devour momos made by the school’s momo vendor, also known as ‘momo aunty’. The brand he went on to establish has a valuation of tens of millions of dollars, with more than 200 outlets across more than 13 major cities in India. Daryani has received various awards in recognition of his entrepreneurial brilliance and he acknowledged the importance of his roots when he attended the first edition of the school’s business conclave as the Chief Guest.

Projjol BanerjeaProjjol is the founder and Chief Product Officer of zeotap, a leading marketing and analytics data platform. He's also co-founder and Board Member at feminine care startup Nua. His prior roles include those as Chief Product Officer at premium network Moboqo, acquired by mobile marketing company Applovin, as well as VP Marketing & Business Development at ad monetization platform Fyber (formerly SponsorPay), acquired by RNTS Media. Projjol earned an MBA at Oxford, where he was a member of the university's lightweight rowing team. He also holds an MS in HCI from Indiana University's School of Informatics, a BA in Computer Science (highest honours, Phi Beta Kappa) from DePauw University, and is an IAPP Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT). Projjol is a member of both the Global Chief Data Officer Council and India Advisory Board of I-COM, the official industry-backed international forum for exploring data and measurement in digital marketing. He was selected as a member of StartingBloc, an internationalfellowship of young leaders who share a keen interest in corporate responsibility, cross-sector partnerships and sustainability.

ROHAN SARMArohan sarma is a social scientist whose areas of research include ‘business and society’, public policy and governance and has several publications and presentations at national and international levels. He has demonstrated dexterity in development policy and planning with vulnerable communities, as well as strategic advisory for industry and non-profit leaders. He was one of the founding members of the first government supported Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) thinktanks in India at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Asia’s premier social sciences institute. As an institution builder and academic entrepreneur, rohan founded and led a national level development sector consulting practice that he established at a public institution. rohan has provided policy inputs to Sustainability/CSR frameworks, designed comprehensive assessment frameworks for non-profits, trained 3000+ human development professionals and advocated funding support for neglected thematics, geographies and communities. As a recognition of his contribution to the social sector, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has invited rohan for consecutive years, as an expert to advise on private sector engagement for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). For 2022 – 23, rohan has been invited to join the CII National Task Force on Rural Development and Migrant Workforce.