iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Four Indian Americans were conferred the Padma Award, the highest civilian award of India given on Republic Day. The Padma Award recognizes distinguished and exceptional achievements, and service in varied disciplines like Art, Literature and Education, Sports, Medicine, Social Work, Science and Engineering, Public Affairs, Civil Service, and Trade and Industry.
This year’s Padma Shri awards recognize the global contributions of Nitin Nohria, Ajay Bhatt, Vinod Dham, and Sethuraman Panchanathan of the U.S. Their contributions to technology, education, and innovation are impacting a global audience.
The awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service). This year, the government has awarded 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri awards. Instituted in 1954, these awards are announced on Republic Day every year.
Nitin Nohria, the first Indian American dean of Harvard Business School, is among the four Indian-origin achievers on the list of Padma Awards 2025. A close friend of India’s richest business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, Nitin Nohria made the headlines in 2019 as the highest-paid dean of HBS, earning $904,506 in salary and benefits. Nohria, who lives in Lexington near Boston, believes that business is a sacred activity and that business leaders should honor their ethical responsibilities just as good doctors conduct themselves by the Hippocratic oath. He is interested in sustainable economies and corporate accountability.
Born into a business family in Rajasthan, he made a name for himself in business studies. He is a distinguished alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, with a PhD in management from MIT Sloan School of Management. With 16 titles to his credit, like “Management: An Integrated Approach,” “The Handbook of Teaching Leadership,” and “Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices.”
Indian American Ajay V Bhatt, the inventor of USB, who lives in Portland, Oregon, earned his master’s degree from the City College of New York. His career at Intel started in 1990 and, he is a renowned technologist and thought leader in the U.S. Silicon Valley with as many as 132 international patents. Born in Vadodara, Gujarat, Bhatt was featured in the 2010 issue of GQ India, as one of “The 50 Most Influential Global Indians.” As a computer architect he was also conferred The Light of India Award in 2012, the European Inventor Award in 2013, and the Asian Award.
The Government of India named entrepreneur and venture capitalist Vinod Dham for Padma Bhushan 2025. Vinod Dham, the father of Pentium Chip, earned his BE degree in electrical engineering from India, and then completed his MS degree in the U.S. He is one of the immigrant technology pioneers in Silicon Valley. His role in developing the Pentium Micro-Processor and co-inventing Intel’s first Flash Memory technology earned him leadership roles at Intel. His parents with four children had migrated to India from Rawalpindi after the 1947 Partition. He calls himself an accidental engineer as engineering happened to him by chance; physics was his first choice. He was hesitant to leave his mother and siblings alone in India for higher studies in the U.S. after his father died. “You must go. America is your destiny. I will manage. Don’t worry about me,” Vinod recalled his mother encouraging him back then.
Indian American Sethuraman Panchanathan, the Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation, is one of the 113 names for Padma Shri 2025. Dr Panchanathan, who hails from Chennai, is a leader in the electrical and computer engineering sector. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, earned an MTech degree from IIT Madras, and then pursued PhD at the University of Ottawa in 1989. He was promoted to associate professor at the University of Ottawa and became the chief research officer in 2009 at Arizona State University.