Dr. Rahul Jindal Felicitated with U.S Government’s Award ‘Outstanding American by Choice’

On November 13, 2013, Dr. Rahul Jindal – USINPAC Co-chair Healthcare Subcommittee was felicitated with the ‘Outstanding American by Choice’ award. This acclaimed award was presented by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery, US. Dr. Jindal is currently working as a staff transplant surgeon at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He also works as a Professor of Surgery at the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Jindal has immensely contributed to the field of healthcare and he is known for his expansive work and knowledge in this discipline. He has achieved many ‘firsts’; to name a few, he performed the world’s first surgery to link a tube with blood vessels in the failing liver of a six-year-old boy. He set up a kidney transplant program in Guyana, South America. He has driven this initiative in other countries including Antigua and Trinidad and Tobago. He has also co-authored a book titled ‘The Struggle for life: A Psychological Perspective of Kidney Disease and Transplantation’ with Lyndsay S. Baines. This book serves as a textbook in dialysis and transplant programs and it throws light on psycho-social issues patients face during dialysis and post transplantation. At the Outstanding American by Choice award ceremony, he talked about the U.S’ flair for attracting talent; he said, “Today’s ceremony is a powerful affirmation of America’s strengths, nearly half a million new citizens come every year from all corners of the world. We bring in new ideas and novel strategies to solve problems and ensure that the US will be ready for the next century.”

Dr. Jindal is closely associated with USINPAC being Co-Chair Healthcare Subcommittee. He has hosted and spearheaded many of USINPAC’s events where he has closely worked with several political leaders from both India and the U.S. He has been a driving force behind several social initiatives; in the recent past, he served as a coordinator of a major blood donation drive to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 coordinated by the HMEC (Hindu Mandirs Executive Conference). He is also member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and Physicians, International Transplant Society, and American College of Surgeons. We offer Dr. Jindal our heartiest wishes.

USINPAC Congratulates Latha Mangipudi on her State Representative Special Election Win

USINPAC New Hampshire (NH) Chapter Chairperson Latha Mangipudi has won the Special Elections for State Representative in Hillsborough District 35 in New Hampshire by a wide margin of 59% – 41%. She came to the U.S as a first-generation immigrant from India to study and later work here. Prior to her arrival in the States, she had received a Master’s degree in Speech and Hearing from the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing. Her interaction and exposure to the various communities shaped her understanding and commitment of working for the community. She aims to involve herself further in educating children, serving seniors, and helping the community at large. She lives with her family in Nashua. Today, she is a member of the American Speech Language Hearing association (ASHA).
Latha Mangipudi has worked as a trained Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) for more than twenty five years. She started her career at the Fernald State School in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she provided therapy services. After moving to New Hampshire, she worked at the Southern NH Hospital. She has also worked with the Nashua Center for the Multiply Handicapped (NCMH) and Interim Health Care. She has been a member of several councils including The Nashua Interfaith, Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Charitable Trust, and Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Mental Health Association. As an educator, she has served on the Board of Education in Nashua. Among other activities, she has served as volunteer coordinator of Chinmaya Maruti and the New Hampshire Chairperson of Akshaya Patra.
Latha Mangipudi has served as the Chairperson of the USINPAC New Hampshire Chapter. She has been very active in encouraging and educating the Indian-American community to involve them in political advocacy. She has also hosted and organized several USINPAC events including Congressional and Presidential get-togethers and meetings to establish working relationships with senators, congressmen, and the White House.

 

 

 

USINPAC congratulates Indian American Dr. Meera Chandrashekhar on her selection for Baylor University’s 2014 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching

Dr. Meera Chandrasekhar is one of three preeminent scholar/teachers from U.S. universities who have been selected as finalists for Baylor University’s 2014 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching.

The Cherry Award is the only national teaching award with the single largest monetary reward of $250,000 presented by a college or university to an individual for exceptional teaching.
As Cherry Award finalists, each professor will receive $15,000, as well as $10,000 for their home departments to foster the development of teaching skills. Each finalist will present a series of lectures at Baylor during fall 2013 and also a Cherry Award lecture on their home campuses during the upcoming academic year.
The winning professor will be announced by Baylor in spring 2014.
Chandrasekhar is a Curator’s Teaching Professor of Physics, University of Missouri. The Indian American earned her B.Sc. degree in physics and mathematics from M.G.M. College, Mysore University in India, in 1968; master’s degrees in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India, in 1970 and Brown University in 1973; and a Ph.D. in physics from Brown University in 1976.
After a post-doctoral fellowship at Max-Planck-Institut in Germany, she joined the University of Missouri faculty in 1978.
Chandrasekhar’s teaching and research has been recognized with many honors, including the 2006 President’s Award for Outstanding Teaching from the University of Missouri, 2004 Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professorship from the University of Missouri, and the 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from the National Science Foundation.
She was honored in 2002 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology. She received an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 1985 and was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1992.
Chandrasekhar’s research interests are in the area of optical spectroscopy of semiconductors, superconductors and conjugated polymers, with an emphasis on high pressure studies.

She has a strong interest in the education of young students, and has developed hands-on physics programs for students in grades 5-12 and summer institutes for K-12 teachers, activities for which she has received several awards.

Source: IndiaWest

USINPAC congratulates Indian American Gargee Ghosh on her appointment as member of the President’s Global Development Council

US President Barack Obama has appointed an Indian-American Gargee Ghosh to a key administration post.

Ghosh, currently the director of Policy Analysis and Financing at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been appointed as member of the President’s Global Development Council.

“I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead,” Obama said yesterday as he announced several key administration posts along with Ghosh.

Holding the current position at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, since 2012, Ghosh also held roles in global health and international economics with the Gates Foundation from 2004 to 2009.

Previously, she was a senior expert in the international development practice at McKinsey & Company, and also worked at Google and the Center for Global Development.

She is a member of the advisory board of the University of California San Francisco’s Global Health Group.

Ghosh received a BA from the University of Victoria, an M Sc in Economics from the University of Oxford and an MSc in international relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Source: Times of India

USINPAC congratulates Indian American actor and former Whitehouse staffer Kal Penn

US President Barack Obama has nominated popular Indian-American actor and former White House staffer Kal Penn for a key administration post of member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

The announcement came on Monday for The Namesake fame actor, who served in the White House during the Obama’s first term and played a key role in his re-election campaign last year, in particular attracting the youth in the run-up to the polls.

Born in New Jersey as as Kalpen Suresh Modi, Penn is an actor, writer and producer, who shot to fame with the Harold and Kumar film series.

From 2009 to 2011 he was an Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement with the Obama administration, serving as liaison to Young Americans, the Arts, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

Before joining the White House, he worked as an artist an actor in Los Angeles and New York, and was also an Adjunct Lecturer in Asian American Studies, Film Studies, and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.

He served as a member of the Obama for America National Arts Policy Committee in 2008 and as a National Campaign Co-Chair in 2012.

Penn received his Bachelors in Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“These fine public servants bring both a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles.

Our nation will be well-served by these men and women, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Obama said as he announced seven key administration posts.

As an actor, Kal Penn is known for his role portraying Dr Lawrence Kutner on the television drama series House, as well as the character Kumar Patel in the Harold and Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the critically acclaimed Mira Nair’s film, The Namesake.

Source: The Times of India