Vimala Raghavendran '02

Vimala Raghavendran ’02 was welcomed to Knox College by a bevy of students and staff, helping her feel right at home as she stepped foot alone in the United States for the first time. “All I had were some pillows and a blanket from Kmart that an aunt had given me, and I just showed up on campus,” she said. “It was such a soft landing because there were students and staff who helped me not feel homesick.” 

Raghavendran began her college education in India and quickly realized she wanted to try something different. She began exploring her options internationally and stumbled upon a Knox College brochure at a US Information Centre and applied soon after.

“I didn’t even know there were different types of colleges,” she said. 

Throughout her time at Knox, she felt that her thought process was constantly challenged, which molded her into a dynamic, critical thinker. “I think I rewired my brain a bit,” she said. Raghavendran points to this as a key element of her education which she carried into various roles throughout her career. 

Raghavendran worked with the Office of Communications and edited for The Knox Student. Through these roles, Raghavendran further developed not only her project management and team-building skills but also her personal network outside of the classroom. Under the guidance of Peter Bailey ’74, now retired from the Office of Communications, she built her writing skills—something she frequently uses to this day.   

After graduating, Raghavendran went on to graduate school before working with a non-profit biotech organization, the International Partnership for Microbicides. This sparked her interest in drug development, pharmacology, and the healthcare industry, which led to her decision to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of Business. 

After several years of working with consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company, she now serves as the Vice President of Informatics Product Development at the U.S. Pharmacopeia Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Center. In this role, she works collaboratively with teams from around the world to create an intelligence platform to manage drug flow. Raghavendran credits her Knox education for giving her the skills that she deploys today in her work in the generic pharmaceutical industry.

“Being at Knox has allowed me to think in a certain way—even if I don’t understand something, I know how to ask the right questions to gain the information I need,” she added.