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. [caption id=“attachment_2456352” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon[/caption] “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