Sunday, May 19

BITS Pilani Alumni Contributes $3 Million To Institute’s Endowment Fund

Edited by Uzma Parveen
Job Industry Downturn: BITS Pilani Reaches Out To Alumni For Placement AssistanceBITS Pilani Alumni Contributes $ 3 Million To Institute’s Endowment Fund

Alumni of higher educational institutions play a significant role in taking the beacon of knowledge forward and also by making generous donations to the research and development of the institutes. In continuing support of their alma mater, BITS Pilani alumni Anuradha, Prashanth Palakurthi, Sid Mookerji, and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu have each made a generous pledge of one million dollars to the BITS Endowment Fund towards developmental initiatives. BITS Pilani Vice-Chancellor V. Ramgopal Rao shared the news via the social media handle ‘X’.

“The continued support from our esteemed BITS Pilani alumni, both past and present, continues to be instrumental in taking the institution towards greater heights of excellence.”, said the VC.

Alumni Prashanth Palakurthi is the 1978 batch’s student and has made mega donations to the institution in the past also. The one million dollar donation went into establishing Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (APPCAIR) in 2018. Prashanth Palakurthi is a US-based technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist and serves as the Chairperson of the Giving Back fund. In 2020 he was awarded the first-ever BITS Ratna award for his exemplary contribution to society, the Institute, and its stakeholders. Anuradha, his wife, is the founder of the juju productions and also serves as the chairperson of MIT’s Heritage Arts of South Asia. Known for her soul-stirring vocals Anuradha organized the Vax India Now event in 2021 – the world’s first Bollywood-Hollywood Virtual concert. Through their extensive charity work, the couple touched countless lives. The Mookerji Foundation was founded by a BITS alumnus.

Notably, Sid Mookerji who passed out from the institute in 1989, has also pledged 1 million dollars and shares a passionate commitment to supporting entrepreneurship. Sid Mookerji and his wife, Sophie Mookerji, has pledged one million dollars to support entrepreneurship development initiatives, including growing the PhD DRIVE (Deep-tech Research Innovation and Value Generation Entrepreneurship) program. Sid Mookerji is recognized as a leader in Retail Innovation, and is the founder and the managing partner of Silicon Road Ventures, a pioneer in shaping the future of global commerce.

Another 1998 batch alumni Chaitanya Kalipatnapu also made an unprecedented contribution of 1 million dollars to set up the BITS Endowment Fund, which signifies his palpable determination to improve his alma mater.