Indian-American couple gifts $100 million to New York engineering school

Washington: An Indian-American couple has announced a $100 million gift to the New York University School of Engineering in what is believed to be the largest philanthropic gift by a member of the Indian-American community.

In recognition of Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon’s generosity, the school will be renamed the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

The University has also agreed to a challenge from the donors to raise an additional, separate $50 million, which will be principally focused on scholarship aid, said NYU president John Sexton and Katepalli R. Sreenivasan, dean of the School of Engineering.

“We want to give back to the city that has given us so much. Our hope is that this gift will bring many more of us together to re-invent engineering, advance New York’s efforts to become a science and tech capital, and foster the talents of young innovators, applied scientists, and entrepreneurs.

Chandrika Tandon is a member of the Board of Overseers of NYU’s business school, a member of the NYU Board of Trustees, and leads the NYU President’s Global Council. A former partner at McKinsey and Company, she is chair of Tandon Capital Associates, a financial advisory firm she founded in 1992. She also is a Grammy-nominated musician, with an album, “Soul Call”, nominated for Best Contemporary World Music in 2011.

Her husband, Ranjan Tandon, is an engineer by training and a graduate of the Harvard Business School. He is founder and chair of Libra Advisors, a hedge fund he founded in 1990.

Engineering was only recently restored to NYU after a 40-year absence when NYU merged with Polytechnic University in 2014.

PTI