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UCF Launches New Program Focused on India's Politics, Technology, Religion
By UCF Staff Jan. 30, 2008
An emerging world power with a growing population in the Orlando area, India will be the focus of a new program at the University of Central Florida.
Supported by The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund, The India Program will sponsor public discussions involving prominent speakers, panels and other meetings; encourage scholarship and research; and work with partners worldwide to broaden awareness and understanding about India. The program will cover India in terms of politics, technology, communication, culture and religion.
Anil Deshpande, president of Deshpande, Inc., is a prominent businessman in the United States and India. He and his wife Chitra have supported UCF programs related to India and other international initiatives during the past several years. They were eager to help the university enhance its connections with India.
“The United States is the superpower, and India is an emerging power. Both are important democracies of the world,” Anil Deshpande said. “We have made this endowment to enable the creation of a program that promotes understanding and expanded relations between the two.”
The initial contribution to the endowed fund is $100,000 and, with anticipated state matching money, will increase to $150,000. Others who are interested in the program may make contributions to the fund by gift or bequest.
The Deshpandes and UCF envision the program as a world-class resource center that will benefit UCF and the Central Florida community.
The program will be part of the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences. John C. Bersia, special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives, and Roger Handberg, chair of the Department of Political Science, will serve as interim co-directors.
“In the evolving 21st-century world, it is clear that India will be one the most prominent players,” said Bersia, who shepherded the effort to secure the endowed fund. “Through The India Program, UCF will establish a leadership position in conversations about this emerging power.”
Handberg said the new program provides an important expansion of the study of one of the world’s most important nations, adding that “there can be no serious global discussion without considering India.”
Peter Panousis, dean of the College of Sciences, underscored India’s growing role in global economics.
“Unfortunately, we often fail to grasp the underlying understanding of the political, economic and cultural issues that have led to India’s dramatic growth in world influence,” he said. “This endowment will help UCF create a program that is designed to better understand these issues and provide a foundation for mutually advantageous partnerships.”
The program will provide the base for other opportunities on campus related to India. In his letter of support for the endowed fund, Anil Deshpande made a commitment to participate this year in the establishment of an endowed chair that would be attached to The India Program and also housed in the Department of Political Science.
