Congratulations Puneet Kundu

To all members of the Northeastern University—Toronto community,

I am writing to share the exciting news that one of our students has been recognized as part of the university-wide graduate student awards. Puneet Kundu, a student in the Masters of Project Management program, has been awarded the 2021 Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Leadership. This award recognizes graduate students who have demonstrated significant leadership and a deep commitment to giving back to members of Northeastern’s community or surrounding neighbourhoods. Significantly, Puneet is the first student at a regional campus to win a university-wide graduate student award. 

Puneet was part of the first international student cohort at the Toronto campus, beginning his studies online in April 2020 and joining us on-ground in the summer of 2020. Even before leaving his home country of India for Canada, Puneet had begun planning a Toronto chapter of the Northeastern Project Management Student Organization (NUPM). Working with a number of other students at the Toronto campus, as well as Prof. Adel Zadeh, Puneet succeeded in establishing this group and mounting a series of very successful student events. These included events focused on helping newly arriving students to settle in Toronto and events helping Project Management students navigate the concentrations available to them in their program. We are very grateful for the outstanding contribution that NUPM has made to student life at the Toronto campus—not only for students in the Project Management program but for students across all of our approved programs.

Apart from his work with NUPM and the demands of full-time graduate study Puneet is currently an Assistant Director within the Toronto chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI). He has also worked as a Student Ambassador within the College of Professional Studies, connecting with prospective Project Management students to provide a student’s perspective on the Toronto campus. 

Puneet’s accomplishments would be impressive under any circumstances. Given the unprecedented challenges created by the pandemic, however, they are even more noteworthy. Puneet and his fellow students have demonstrated remarkable initiative, creativity, and resilience under very difficult circumstances. 

On behalf of the Toronto Campus, I want to express my heartfelt congratulations to Puneet on this outstanding achievement. 

Sincerely,

Aliza Lakhani

CEO & Regional Dean

Northeastern University—Toronto