Bhubaneswar: A Washington state senator, mayors of several US cities and other distinguished personalities visited KIIT and KISS here on Thursday, spending a considerable time interacting with students.
A special programme was organised at KISS, where 10 eminent personalities from Washington state were conferred the KIIT-KISS Is One (KKIO) Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions in various fields.
The awardees were — Tina Louise Orwall, Washington state senator; Dana Lynn Ralph, mayor of Kent; Thomas Wayne McLeod, mayor of Tukwila; Mark Douglas Mullet, mayor of Issaquah; Joseph Daniel Marine, mayor of Mukilteo; Ronald Jon Frederick, mayor of DuPont; Stanley Lalit Kumar Flemming, mayor of University Place; Mohamed Ali Egal, mayor of SeaTac; Denise Teresa McCluskey, pro-tem mayor of University Place; Toni Marie Troutner, council member of city of Kent.
The guests were deeply impressed by the scale and functioning of KIIT and KISS. They praised the discipline of KISS students and their capabilities across various fields, and said they had never seen such a large number of children together in one place.
The 17-member delegation from Washington state is visiting India from October 12 to 19 as part of the India Trek programme.
KIIT and KISS founder Dr Achyuta Samanta delivered the welcome address and thanked the delegation for visiting the institutions.
Among others present on the occasion were Prof. Sharanjit Singh, Vice-Chancellor of KISS Deemed to be University, and Dr. Prashant Kumar Routaray, Chief Executive Officer of KISS.