Kiran Mazumdar-shaw

Biography

Kiran Mazumdar was born to Gujarati parents in Bangalore, India. She went to school at Bangalore's Bishop Cotton Girl's High School, graduating in 1968. She then attended Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, a women's college offering pre-university courses as an affiliate of Bangalore University. She studied biology and zoology, graduating from Bangalore University with a bachelor's degree in Zoology in 1973.Mazumdar hoped to go to medical school, but did not obtain a scholarship. Her father, Rasendra Mazumdar, was the head brewmaster at United Breweries. He suggested that she study fermentation science, and train to be a brewmaster, a very non-traditional field for a woman. Mazumdar went to Federation University (Formerly known as University of Ballarat) in Australia to study Malting and Brewing. In 1974 she was the only woman enrolled in the brewing course, and the top of her class. She earned the degree of master brewer in 1975. She worked as a trainee brewer in Carlton and United Breweries, Melbourne and as a trainee maltster at Barrett Brothers and Burston, Australia. She also worked for some time as a technical consultant at Jupiter Breweries Limited, Calcutta and as a technical manager at Standard Maltings Corporation, Baroda between 1975 and 1977. However, when she investigated the possibility of further work in Bangalore or Delhi, she was told that she would not be hired as a master brewer in India because "It's a man's work." She began to look abroad, and was offered a position in Scotland.

Research Interest

 Malting and Brewing