Welcome address by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande: Dr. Dhande summed up the five decades of IITK's history as, the first decade was the decade of growth. The second decade was marked by some unrest from the staff of the institute. The third decade was a period of calm and introspection. The fourth decade saw prosperity and development at its peak. The fifth decade came roaring and the institute is now poised to touch new international heights.

Address by Chairman Prof. M. Anandakrishnan: Prof. Anandakrishnan reminisced about the early years of IIT Kanpur. He recalled the fervour and dedication of the young faculty members led by a dynamic Director, Prof. P. K. Kelkar. In his view Prof. Kelkar played a pivotal role in establishing an institute where science-based engineering education was put in place for the first time. He exhorted the faculty, students and staff to strive even harder in the coming years.

Inaugural address by the chief guest Mr. Narayana Murthy: Delivering his inaugural address to the huge gathering present in the Institute auditorium, Mr. Murthy urged the government to accord full academic and financial autonomy to higher technical institutes like IITs so that these institutes may meet global challenges in the next 50 years. He also said that the Board of Governors should be strengthened and empowered to take decisions and implement them. Mr. Murthy emphasized the need for a strong doctoral and post-doctoral programme at the IITs in general and IITK in particular.
Mr. Murthy stressed the importance of intensified research, quality teaching and an innovative curriculum. He also said that for research activities the institutes should not depend solely on government aid; alumni should come forward to strengthen their own institute with their contributions. Mr. Murthy concluded by saying that IIT Kanpur should transform itself into one of the top 20 engineering institutes in the world.

A musical evening by Shubha Mudgal and her troupe "Koshish": Ms. Shubha Mudgal and her troupe "Koshish" (a musical crossover) presented a musical programme in the evening. Ms. Shubha Mudgal, a popular performer and composer, received her training from some of the finest classical musicians of the country, namely, Pt. Ram Ashreya Jha, Pt. Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya, Pt. Vasant Thakar, Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki, Pt. Kumar Gandharva and Smt. Naina Devi. 'Koshish" uses a subtle blend of a variety of musical influences to create music that is powerful, yet restrained; contemporary yet with roots in tradition. A variety of musical influences, ranging from North Indian classical music, to Western classical music and jazz are evident in the compositions of Koshish. The poetry too ranged from a 17th century Sufi poet to Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Gulzaar.

Golden Jubilee Walk: A Golden Jubilee walk was organized by the Staff Gymkhana, under the leadership of Prof. A. K. Lal, Department of Mathematics and Statistics on 9th August, 2009 on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Inauguration. Around 1700 people participated in the Golden Jubilee Walk. A remarkable feature of this event was the wide distribution of all age groups - the very young, the middle aged as well as the old participated in this event to mark the vitality and energy of IIT Kanpur. At the end of the G J Walk, prizes were given to the winners in the different groups by the Director, Prof. S. G. Dhande and the Registrar, Mr. S. S. Kashalkar.

A workshop on "Challenges in Higher Education" was organized on 9th August, 2009. The aim of the workshop was to identify the problems and concerns of educational institutions in the country. Eminent educationists participated in the day long deliberations. All of them advocated autonomy and research based reorientation of higher education and technical education. Mr. Sam Pitroda, Mr. Arun Shourie, Prof. Ashok Mishra, Prof. M. Anandakrishnan, Mr. Shrikantan Murthy and Mr. S. N. Zindal gave their views and suggestions on these issues. Later in the day Prof. Gautam Barua, Mr. Pawan Agarwal and Prof. Pankaj Jalote deliberated on issues such as the problems of attracting good faculty members, the procedure of admission to these institutes, their governance and their structuring etc. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande.

Sam Pitroda, Chairman of National Knowledge Commission, participated in the deliberations through video conferencing. He expressed his concern over the delay in the implementation of the policies chalked out for improving the standards of higher technical education in India. He said that most of the problems have solutions on the table and there was no need for protracted debate.

Mr. Arun Shourie, member of Rajya Shabha, author and journalist, also expressed his concern over higher technical education being neglected for so long. He said that the standards and norms of excellence are under assault in India and he further added that India is facing tough competition from even countries like Nigeria, Cyprus etc. He said that the benchmark should be made against the best and not against the people in our catchment.

Prof. M. Anandakrishnan, Chairman Board of Governors of IIT Kanpur, stressed the need to humanize technical education and said that engineers and scientists have a great and responsible role in shaping the future of the country. He also pointed out that the recommendations of the Kothari Commission had already laid out a frame work for holistic technical education in the country.

Prof. Ashok Misra, former director of IIT Bombay, stressed the need for the inclusion of commercial research in the curriculum for industrial development. He said that it is important to teach the state of the art in technical education and added that it is also important to stress the utility of such education in real life situations. He was of the opinion that academia-industry interaction should be developed and strengthened.

Mr. Shrikantan Moorthy, Vice President and Head - Education and Research, Infosys, pointed out that only about 25% of the technical graduates are employable. Infosys, therefore, has come out with a novel method for the training of their potential employees through various programmes. These include programmes such as "Campus Connect" which enables the faculty and the students of technical institutions to be provided with IT exposure.

Mr. S. N. Zindal, former Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), discussed his vision of higher education and presented Pan IIT Pancha Ratnas - Five Actions to Reform Higher Education in India that the Government should immediately undertake so that India can become a global hub for knowledge creation and talent development by 2022:
1. Implement Comprehensive Reforms in Policies and Governance, 2. Mandate Quality and Increase Capacity, 3. Enable Quantum Improvement in Faculty Service Conditions, 4. Deploy Technology for Teaching and Collaborative Research, 5. Establish an Active Industry-Academia Interface.

Photo exhibition: A visual story of IIT Kanpur was organized by Ms. Koumudi Patil. Apart from the documentary film, there was also a photo exhibition at the Outreach centre which provided vivid pictorial narratives of the development of the Institute over the last fifty years. This photo exhibition also had pen and ink sketches of campus buildings. These sketches were done by Ms. Radha Harish.

IITK Movie: A 58 minute documentary on IIT Kanpur, directed by Mr. Sunil Shanbag was inaugurated and screened on 8th August, 2009 (IITK Golden Jubilee Inaugural Day). The documentary traced the complete journey of the institute from its modest beginning at the Harcourt Butler Technical Institute (HBTI) campus to the present day. The movie talks about the dreams and aspirations of the institute for the future and also shows, through a series of interviews with people associated with it, how the ethos of the institute was established by its founding members. It covered both the bitter and the sweet moments of the Institute. The documentary also showed how the first computer of the Institute was brought to the computer centre on a bullock cart in 1960. The documentary gave a vivid account of the vision of Prof. P. K. Kelkar, the founding Director of IIT Kanpur.

About the film director Mr. Sunil Shanbag: Mr. Sunil Shanbag is a theatre producer/director, a television writer/producer and has worked as an actor/designer/ assistant director with Mr. Satyadev Dubey from 1974 to 1984 on about twenty-five productions. In 1985, he along with his group of friends became one of the founding members and the art director of Arpana, a repertory company. He has also established the independent film companies, Setu films and Chrysalis Films.