M.S. Chadha Center for Global India established at Princeton University

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Indian American Sumir Chadha who graduated from Princeton University in 1993, has established the M.S. Chadha Center for Global India at Princeton University in efforts to bring scholars and students from all disciplines together to broadly explore contemporary India, including its economy, politics and culture.

The center is named in honor of Chadha’s grandfather, who was a distinguished physician and served as the director general of Health Services for India.

“India’s development since I attended Princeton University 25 years ago has been remarkable in many areas — economic progress, entrepreneurship, innovation and the arts. Applying Princeton’s world-class scholarship to the study of India will be of great benefit to India, Princeton and the world at large. I am grateful to President Eisgruber for his leadership in extending Princeton’s global reach through this important initiative. It also gives me tremendous pleasure to honor my grandfather, who was a great human being and mentor to me, by naming this center for him,” Chadha said in a press release.

Sanjay Swani, who graduated from Princeton University in 1987, and his wife Preeti, have endowed a professorship in the India studies program and established a global seminar that will take a group of students to India in the summer to learn about the nation and culture firsthand.

Other graduates of the university who are lending their support to Princeton’s exploration of India include Sheila Patel (1991), Aliya Nedungadi (1997), Ajit Nedungadi (1997), Kush Parmar (2002), Princess Padmaja Kumari Mewar (2002), Peter Wendell (1972) and Lynn Mellen Wendell (1977).

“India is at a pivotal moment in its history. A deeper understanding of its culture, economic growth and status as the world’s largest democracy is essential both to scholars and to the students who will become leaders of our global society,” said President Christopher L. Eisgruber, who traveled to India in 2016.

“Sumir Chadha and Sanjay Swani have worked tirelessly to help position Princeton as the premier center for the study of this tremendously influential nation. They have the University’s deepest gratitude, as do all who have helped to make this center possible,” he added.

Chadha earned a BSE in computer science as an undergraduate and he is the co-founder and managing director of WestBridge Capital Partners, a leading investment firm focused on India.

He is also a member of the advisory council of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), and of President Eisgruber’s advisory council. He has served as the chairman of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) and serves on the India Advisory Board of Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA.

Swani earned an A.B. in molecular biology at Princeton and is the chair of the advisory council of PIIRS as well as a member of the Bridge Year committee.

He has been a general partner at the firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for 17 years and holds graduate degrees from Harvard University as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“The combination of classroom study and firsthand experience is more powerful than either of those on its own. Princeton students will now be able to learn from stellar faculty in the classroom, and travel to India to see their academic work brought to life. I am very happy to support this extraordinary educational experience,” Swani said in a press release.