Mukund Padmanabhan, a well-known Indian-American scientist and hedge fund partner, might be popular for his work in the field of science and research but what makes him special is his contribution towards his alma mater – IIT Kharagpur and University of California. Making it big in the US, he still cares about the institutions that helped him achieve greater heights, and is constantly helping them through generous donations.
Mukund, who runs Guru Krupa Foundation – a NYC-based charity that supports social, educational and cultural initiatives, donated ₹52 lakh for IIT Kharagpur’s Academy of Classical and Folk Arts. The donation is to build a special music auditorium with modern technology to help students learn better through workshops on classical and folk arts.
“Developing and excelling in a modern scientific approach to all things is required to make practical progress and advance our knowledge about the world we live in. However, traditional art and culture are also very important as it defines our history and represents our roots,” said Mukund, who completed his BTech in electronics and electrical engineering in 1987.
A few years ago, the scientist had gifted $2.5 million to the University of California for a state-of-the-art engineering lab dedicated to integrated microsystems. His generous donation was used to support the construction of new research facility in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.
After finishing his BS from IIT Kharagpur, he did his MS and PhD in electrical engineering from UCLA. He began his career in speech recognition at the IBM TJ Watson Research Lab from where he pivoted to Wall Street, and is currently a partner and research at hedge fund Renaissance Technologies in New York.