Hari Kumar, ENG’95, W’95, and Sonia Nayaham Gift Funds Construction of State-of-the-Art Laboratories and Supports International Research and Scholarship

Hari Kumar, ENG’95, W’95, and Sonia Nayaham have made a gift to the School of Arts & Sciences that funds the construction of laboratory spaces in the Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST), supports research and scholarship at the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI), and endows a scholarship fund that furthers the School’s goal to expand need-blind undergraduate financial aid to international students.

“This gift will facilitate innovative research in energy science and provide CASI vital funds to support unique learning opportunities,” said Steven J. Fluharty, Dean and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience. “It will also allow us to offset the cost of tuition for our exceptional international students.”

“We are excited to support the School in critical areas like climate change research and undergraduate scholarship, and to provide assistance to prospective international students in need of aid,” said Nayaham and Kumar, who serves on the College External Advisory Board of the School of Arts & Sciences, the Penn Asia Leadership Committee, and the CASI International Advisory Board. He is also Founder and CEO of Lionrock Capital in Singapore. “We believe that the School is positioned to foster the kind of collaborative research required to tackle big global challenges, and we can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

Karen Goldberg, Vagelos Professor in Energy Research, noted that the construction of the state-of-the-art laboratory spaces in VLEST, Penn’s new hub for energy research and education, will have a huge impact on energy research moving forward. “The specific lab space that Kumar’s gift supports has been uniquely designed to allow scientists to carry out highly sensitive experiments that aren’t possible in existing buildings on campus. Expect to see exciting new advances in energy research from the students and postdocs who will be working in this space.”

The gift also supports CASI’s mission to provide students the tools they need to engage in policy-relevant research focused on the challenges facing contemporary India.

“Hari Kumar and Sonia Nayaham’s gift represents especially thoughtful and welcome support for centers like CASI, because it is provided without restrictions, preserving maximum flexibility for the Center to use to its best advantage,” said Tariq Thachil, Professor of Political Science, Madan Lal Sobti Professor for the Study of Contemporary India, and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India. “Such gifts are vital for supporting the core everyday activities that make spaces like CASI tick: from initiating new research to supporting staff and students.”