What are the largest gifts by Indian Americans to US universities?

The landmark gifts

The table lists major gifts by Indian Americans to US universities that are documented by the universities themselves or by major news reports. It is not a complete ranking. Many gifts are anonymous or undisclosed, and some donors give through foundations that are not obviously connected to them.

Donor	Institution	Year	Amount	Purpose
Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel (Patel Family Foundation)	Nova Southeastern University	2017	$200M commitment1	Osteopathic medicine and health sciences; new Clearwater campus
Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon	New York University	2015	$100M3	Engineering; school renamed NYU Tandon
Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande	MIT	2002	$20M4	Center for technological innovation
Krishna P. Singh	University of Pennsylvania	2007	$20M5	Nanotechnology center
Anuradha and Vikas Sinha	University of North Texas	2026	$20M6	New college of AI and advanced analytics
Maria and Steve Sanghi	Northern Arizona University	2024	$10M7	College of engineering, named deanship

What HeyAlbert data shows

The Patels and medical education in Florida

Tampa cardiologist Dr. Kiran Patel and pediatrician Dr. Pallavi Patel made the largest commitment of the group. Nova Southeastern called it the largest philanthropic gift in its history. It funded the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, and a 27-acre campus in Clearwater¹. NSU's current summary puts the Patels' gifts at a record $80 million, plus $150 million in real estate and facilities. It also lists colleges and schools of allopathic medicine and health sciences that carry the Patel names². Medicine is the largest single destination for Indian American university giving, a pattern that reflects the community's large presence in the profession. Our research on Indian American doctors and physicians covers that presence.

Engineering and technology

Engineering is the second big theme. In October 2015 Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon gave $100 million for engineering at NYU, and the school was renamed the NYU Tandon School of Engineering³. Ranjan Tandon founded the hedge fund Libra Advisors, which has since become a family office³. Earlier, Desh Deshpande's $20 million gift to MIT in 2002 set an early benchmark for technology entrepreneurship funding⁴. Krishna Singh's $20 million gift to Penn in 2007 was the largest single gift in the history of Penn's engineering school at the time⁵.

The newest wave follows AI and semiconductors. In 2026, Anuradha and Vikas Sinha committed $20 million to the University of North Texas to create the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics, with six permanent endowments⁶. Former Microchip Technology CEO Steve Sanghi and Maria Sanghi gave $10 million to name Northern Arizona University's college of engineering. It was the largest cash gift of its kind in NAU's history⁷. Many of these donors made their fortunes as technology founders or investment managers.

Business schools and cultural programs

Business education is the third major destination. In 2016 Yale School of Management announced that former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi had endowed its deanship, making her the school's most generous graduate in lifetime giving. Yale did not disclose the amount⁸. Indiaspora describes Nooyi's contribution as $50 million⁴. Indiaspora also counts $140 million directed to cultural programming, including the Chadha Center for Global India at Princeton, funded by Sumir Chadha, and endowments for South Asian, Hindu and Indian studies⁴.

How to read gift figures

Headline amounts are not always comparable. A commitment can combine cash, pledges paid over many years and the value of property, as the Patels' NSU commitment did¹. Universities sometimes announce cumulative totals rather than single gifts, and some decline to disclose amounts at all, as Yale did for Nooyi⁸. Where possible, the table above uses the institution's own announcement and gives the year. A gift reported only in the press should be treated as approximate until the university confirms it.

The bigger picture

Indiaspora estimates that Indian Americans have donated more than $3 billion to US universities since 2008. The vast majority of publicly known gifts went to medical and health sciences, engineering and business⁴. Large gifts often follow a liquidity event, a company sale or IPO, and often go to the donor's own graduate school. Many first-generation donors came to the US as graduate students. Researchers expect next-generation donors to inherit substantial wealth over the coming decades, which could widen the range of causes⁹.

For the full picture of where the community gives, see where wealthy Indian Americans give their money. Our guides to private foundations and donor-advised funds and Indian American education levels explain why giving centers on campuses.