BITS Pilani Alumni Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi (1978 batch), Sid Mookerji (Batch 1989) and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu (Batch 1998) have each made a generous pledge of one million dollars to the BITS Endowment Fund, stated a press release from the institute.
Palakurthi’s current commitment follows their earlier mega donation of one million dollars to establish the Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (APPCAIR) in 2018. Notably, Sid Mookerji has pledged one million dollars and shares a passionate commitment to supporting entrepreneurship.
Chaitanya Kalipatnapu
Among the prevalent previous instances, Chaitanya Kalipatnapu also made an unprecedented contribution of one million dollars to set up the BITS Endowment Fund, which signifies his palpable determination to improve his alma mater.
Anuradha and Prashanth Palakurthi
Prashanth Palakurthi is a US-based technology entrepreneur and philanthropist who also serves as the Chairperson of the Giving Back Fund. In 2020 he was awarded the first-ever BITS Ratna award for his exemplary contribution to society, the institute and its stakeholders.
Anuradha, his wife, is the founder of Juju Productions and also serves as the Chairperson of MIT’s Heritage Arts of South Asia. Through their extensive charity work the couple touches countless lives.
Sid Mookerji
The Mookerji Foundation, founded by BITS alumnus Sid Mookerji and his wife, Sophie Mookerji, has pledged one million dollars to support entrepreneurship development initiatives, including growing the PhD DRIVE (Deep-tech Research Innovation and Value Generation Entrepreneurship) programme.
Sid Mookerji is recognised as a leader in Retail Innovation, and is the Founder and Managing Partner of Silicon Road Ventures, a pioneer in shaping the future of global commerce.
