Innovative Partnership Connects Trinity to Hartford

AMANDA HAUSMANN ’21
NEWS EDITOR

Trinity College President and Professor of Neuroscience Joanne Berger-Sweeney has announced a new partnership between the College and Infosys, an India-based international business and technology consulting firm. This partnership is expected to generate job and internship opportunities for Trinity graduates, as well as “leverage a liberal arts education in creating the future of work and of digital technology in particular,” Berger-Sweeney stated in an email sent to the Trinity community on Sept. 20.

While the exact initiatives of this partnership have yet to be announced, Berger-Sweeney says they will reflect the goals of the Summit Bicentennial Strategic Plan: “creating a first-choice liberal arts college, connecting in transformative ways to Hartford and the world, and building on our rich past to ensure a sustainable future.”

Trinity’s partnership with Infosys is not the first of its kind in Hartford. In March of 2018, Infosys announced the establishment of a new Innovation Hub in Hartford, promising to hire 1,000 local employees by 2022. Now, the Trinity-Infosys Applied Learning Initiative will work with the international corporation to “create new educational programs that prepare liberal arts students and Infosys employees for the digital workplace of the future,” as stated in an Infosys press release published on Sept. 20. Additionally, the Infosys press release mentions a “potential summer bridge program for liberal arts students from Trinity and elsewhere to acquire in-demand skills in technology-led innovation.”

Berger-Sweeney, in her Sept. 20 email, indicated that the process towards the partnership begin with a Connecticut state delegation that met with Infosys leaders in the summer of 2017. Conversations began in earnest last March, led by Dean of Dean of Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives Sonia Cardenas, that ultimately resulted in the partnership.

She stated that she was “gratified upon meeting Infosys leaders to learn that they believe—as we [Trinity] do—in the power of a liberal arts education to produce graduates with the analytical capacities, creative thinking, and diverse perspectives necessary to propel innovation.” Berger-Sweeney added that Cardenas had worked in close contact with Infosys leadership to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding. Berger-Sweeney added that Cardenas will continue to lead the partnership efforts going forward.

Although the Trinity-Infosys Applied Learning Initiatives have not yet been finalized, the partnership between the College and Infosys will work out of Trinity’s downtown campus at One Constitution Plaza. In terms of the future for this partnership, President and Deputy COO of Infosys Ravi Kumar stated in the Infosys press release, “we’re excited about this long-term partnership with Trinity College. Building a new hybrid talent pool, which draws on broad-based liberal arts foundations and promotes cognitive diversity, will add immense value to the technology consulting industry and addresses an important skills gap for the 21st century.”

Berger-Sweeney echoed Kumar’s sentiments in her email to the Trinity community stating, “our work with Infosys will build on our strengths as a liberal arts institution, and it will advance our aim to make Trinity the preeminent liberal arts college in an urban setting.”