December 16, 2003
To Whom It May Concern:
I have personally known Rajiv Pant to be an outstanding professional since 1995 when he started working at Philadelphia Newspapers. I watched his career and accomplishments as he grew from programmer to manager, director and vice president of engineering over a short period of six years. Over the years, he has built a reputation as a highly respected technologist and expert problem solver.
Rajiv did not limit his scope to his own department, but was a technology consultant to the entire company. People from other departments and offices regularly requested his help. His strong desire for helping others and helping the company were exemplary. While he helped others be successful, his work within his own department never suffered as he led several successful projects.
Rajiv has superior interpersonal and communication skills. He gets along extremely well with employees across the organization. He is highly respected and liked, as both a person and a professional, by senior management, colleagues, employees, suppliers, and customers alike. His ability to work well with others and win people over has helped him solve problems and get things done that seemed insurmountable. People know him as a go-to problem solver who makes effective use of technology. Rajiv was awarded the prestigious Knight Ridder Excellence Award twice in his career.
From early on in his career, Rajiv showed great leadership skills. He would take charge of a challenge until all the issues were resolved and customers satisfied. People liked working with him, and I frequently heard good things about how he helped them succeed. He has shown the ability to quickly gain a solid understanding of the business and customer needs, and how to get things done quickly and effectively. He has repeatedly demonstrated a good vision for the future in strategies and products.
Rajiv is a resourceful, creative, and solution-oriented person who is frequently able to come up with new and innovative ideas and solutions. He is both a good leader and a follower. He is an exceptional technologist, leader, manager, businessperson and worker all in one.
When Rajiv decided to start a consulting practice, I was saddened to see him leave. I wish him the greatest success in his new undertaking. His presence, both as a person and as an exemplary employee, will always be missed here.
Steve Rossi
President, Newspaper Division
Knight Ridder
(Published with permission)
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