To celebrate his 5th anniversary of induction into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Sridhar Tayur (NAE '17) and his wife Gunjan Kedia created the Sridhar Tayur and Gunjan Kedia Endowed Fund. This new fund provides critical unrestricted support to NAE activities and priorities that further the NAE’s mission of advancing the welfare and prosperity of the nation by providing independent advice on matters involving engineering and technology, and by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and public appreciation of engineering.

 As the Ford Distinguished Research Chair and University Professor of Operations Management at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, Tayur comments, “my hope for engineering is that it continues to bring widespread improvements to the quality of life through innovation.”

Tayur’s recent donation comes at a crucial moment for the NAE as the Academy recently announced the Campaign for Leadership in a World of Accelerating Change. This historic $100M fundraising campaign seeks to strengthen the NAE’s position as the trusted source of engineering advice by focusing on the people, systems, and culture of engineering. Developing a deeper understanding of engineering innovations and their roles and effects on society and the world is a critical part of the Campaign.

As new members of the National Academies’ Einstein Society, this most recent donation is just one example of the philanthropic support that Tayur and his wife have provided to various organizations and institutions of higher learning over the years. Tayur has supported RIP Medical Debt, Smile Train, Children International, Plan International, and Childreach. Additionally, he has funded early-stage neuroscience research on rare genetic diseases, independent film festivals and documentaries, and programs that combat human trafficking.

Tayur received his Ph.D. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Madras (where he is a Distinguished Alumnus Award winner). He is an INFORMS Fellow, a Distinguished Fellow of MSOM Society, and has been a visiting professor at Cornell, MIT, and Stanford.