Lord Swraj Paul donates USD 5 million to alma mater MIT

London, July 12

UK-based Indian-origin entrepreneur Lord Swraj Paul has donated USD 5 million to his alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Auditorium, a landmark on the prestigious college that serves as a venue for neighborhood and cultural actions.

MIT will obtain the donation by the Paul household’s charitable belief — the Ambika Paul Foundation — in recognition of the college’s robust join with the household.

“I have always had great respect for MIT as a world centre of technical excellence, and was delighted when my sons (Akash Paul and the late Angad Paul) followed me there in the 1970s and 80s. MIT means a lot to our family, and I am honoured that we are able to support the continuation of its values and way of life through this iconic building,” mentioned Lord Paul.

In recognition of his reward, the big corridor within the Kresge Auditorium can be named because the Lord Swraj Paul PC ‘52 and Angad Paul ‘92 Theatre and can be extra usually be referred to as the Swraj Paul Theatre at Kresge Auditorium.

“I first came to MIT from India in 1949 at a time when there were very few Indian students in the United States, and the experience changed my life,” reminisces 89-year-old Paul, the Chairman of Caparo Group and Caparo Bull Moose Inc.

“Because of my time at MIT, I decided to expand my Caparo companies into the United States, and for more than 30 years, we have made significant investments across the country in our Bull Moose Tube and XL Trailers businesses,” mentioned the India-born, British-based enterprise magnate and philanthropist.

Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, MIT says the Kresge Auditorium is architecturally vital as a number one instance of a minimalist thin-shell concrete construction. Located within the central space of the MIT campus, Kresge opened its doorways in 1955 and has performed an necessary function within the lifetime of the MIT neighborhood.

The facility, renovated in 2016, along with offering efficiency amenities and follow area for MIT Music and Theatre Arts packages, additionally serves as a venue for a wide range of neighborhood actions together with MIT occasions and symposiums and scholar performances, and Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and New England Philharmonic performances.

The Ambika Paul Foundation is a charitable belief established in reminiscence of Lord Paul’s daughter Ambika, who died of leukaemia in 1968 at age 4.

It was to additional the remedy of her sickness that Lord Paul first got here to Britain in 1966. He remained in England after Ambika’s tragic demise and went on to create Caparo, a diversified world affiliation of companies with pursuits predominantly within the design, manufacture, advertising and marketing, and distribution of value-added metal and area of interest engineering merchandise.

The basis was established in 1978 and since then, funded by donations from the Paul household and the Caparo companies, has grown to have substantial web property and a powerful programme of donations, together with for the Ambika Paul Children’s Zoo on the London Zoo.

The Foundation promotes the well-being of kids and younger individuals all around the world by training, tradition and well being, and seeks to encourage and encourage them to be taught in regards to the world they stay in. — PTI