RoundGlass India Center gets Innovation Recognition Award

Through enriching scholarly engagement, the center builds bridges between diaspora communities and businesses in Seattle and India

The RoundGlass India Center at Seattle University recently received the Innovation Recognition Award at an Inclusive Excellence Reception hosted by the University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This award honors those who bring exceptional innovation and creativity to inclusive excellence work.

University Vice President Natasha Martin noted in a Facebook post that the RoundGlass India Center is, “one of the most exciting and enriching academic initiatives on campus, bringing enriching scholarly engagement and educational programs bridging the university and the region to a global community across the Indian diaspora.”

“Congratulations to our Director, Sital Kalantry, the visionary founder of the Center, and Shannon Young, the Center’s manager, for their outstanding leadership! Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey!” she wrote.

The RoundGlass India Center focuses on the study of contemporary India as well as the Indian American community. Its mission is to educate the communities on current issues impacting them and conduct cutting edge research on India and Indian Americans with the goal of advancing positive social, economic, and policy change in the US and India.

The RoundGlass India Center was founded by Kalantry in September 2023 as an interdisciplinary university center that builds bridges between diaspora communities and businesses in Seattle and India.

READ: RoundGlass India Center to promote dialogue and scholarship with India (September 7, 2023)

It was set up through the generous gift of the RoundGlass Foundation, founded by Sunny Singh, a healthcare entrepreneur and philanthropist, whose work is transforming the lives of millions of people in India.

Prior to joining Seattle University, she was a law professor for 15 years at Cornell Law School. Frustrated by the lack of focus on India at American law schools, she founded the India Center for Law & Justice at Cornell Law School to draw attention to the comparative study of law and policy in India.

Numerous professors at Seattle University across various colleges, including schools of business, engineering, and arts and science, conduct impact-oriented research on India that promotes social change and development in India and the United States.

The RoundGlass India Center builds academic, business, and cultural bridges between Seattle and India through events, collaborations with educational institutions, scholarships, and by supporting faculty scholarship on India.

It also builds connections among the Indian diaspora community in greater Seattle for the purpose of creating a unified voice to advocate for social and economic change regionally and nationally.

The Center hosts prominent speakers on interdisciplinary topics on India and the Indian diaspora, including academic scholars, business leaders, government officials, and social change makers.