BOSTON & VARANASI–Renowned Boston-based entrepreneur and philanthropists Desh and Jaishree Deshpande have donated a generous gift of $1 Million to IIT (BHU) Foundation. In recognition of the gift, the Institute will be naming the library in honor of Desh’s father, Shreenivas Deshpande, a 1948 graduate of the College of Technology.
Shreenivas Deshpande (born March 2nd, 1925) holds the unique distinction of having had a considerable societal impact as a private citizen and a remarkable public service career. After receiving his B.Sc. First Class in Industrial Chemistry in 1948, he spent the next 31 years working in the public sector retiring in 1980 as the Jt. Commissioner of Labor for the Government of Karnataka. Subsequently he served as the President of Chinmaya Mission in Hubballi, the Chairman of the Sharieff Trust, and as the inspiration for the Deshpande Foundation’s initiatives.
Sharing about the meeting that connected his family to an Institute that his father proudly now calls his alma mater, Desh Deshpande said, “A chance encounter with Dr. Godbole, Principal of College of Technology, brought my father to this university, and that changed his life and that of our family. We hope this humble gift will have a similar impact on the hundreds of lives the library will touch in the future.”
Expressing gratitude, Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain, Director, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, also thanked Desh Deshpande and his wife Jaishree, saying, “It is the achievements of distinguished alumni that inspire the faculty and staff to train the technology leaders of the future. We are humbled to be naming the library in honor of Sh. Shreenivas Deshpande because he is a living embodiment of the power of knowledge to transform society.”
Acknowledging the significance of the library in strengthening the academic and research ecosystem of the Institute, Prof. Rajeev Srivastava, Dean (Resource and Alumni Affairs), IIT (BHU), Varanasi, expressed his gratitude for this tremendous gift, “This contribution by Sh. Desh Deshpande and his wife, Ms. Jaishree, to the library of the Institute will help strengthen the academic and research ecosystem of the Institute.”
The library naming ceremony will be held on June 24th, 2022, at 9:30 am (IST) on campus. The ceremony will be broadcast via Zoom and will also be livestreamed on IIT(BHU) Foundation’s social media handles.
IIT (BHU) Foundation celebrates the alumni who’ve seen the Institute grow from the independence era to its transformation to the Indian Institute of Technology. We have tremendous regard for alumni who are enabling the Institute be an eminent source of technology education. Drs. Desh and Jaishree Deshpande’s donation is a testament to the transformative power of education.
