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In
the village elections held in Nassau and Suffolk counties of Long
Island, New York on June 19th, 2007, Mr. Harvinder S. Anand
was elected as Mayor for the Village of Laurel Hollow. Anand is the
first elected Mayor of Indian origin from Long Island.
The
village of Laurel Hollow is a water front community on the North Shore
of Long Island, in Nassau County. The village has some of the most
expensive real estate in the country, with homes ranging in values from
$2 million to $15 million. Laurel Hollow is the home of the 107-acre
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, an internationally recognized genetic and
cancer research center that is on the National Register of Historic
Places.
Anand
was appointed to the position of Trustee in December, 2002 to fill the
vacancy created by the resignation of another trustee. Anand won in a
hotly contested election in 2003 for the Trustee position. Anand serves
as the village Police Commissioner for Laurel Hollow. He is a graduate
of Nassau County Civilian Police Academy and an active member of the
Nassau County Police Reserves. Anand also serves on the Advisory Board
of Nassau County Law Enforcement Explorers.
Anand
has been a resident of the village for over 10 years. He served as the
President of Harbour Ridge Homeowners Association and has served in the
Planning Board of the village.
A
chemical engineer from Panjab University, Chandigarh, Anand attended
Hofstra University for MBA. Mr. Anand is the President of Royce
International; a multi-national corporation involved in manufacture of
industrial chemicals for textile, aerospace, electrical, automotive,
marine and construction industries. He is married to Dr. Chandni Anand,
a practicing Internist and they have two children.
An
Indian American mathematician, Ramesh Gangolli, has been chosen for
this year's Spirit of Liberty award for his contribution to his
community and will be honored on July 4th by Seattle Ethnic
Council. The Council gives away the Spirit of Liberty award every year
to individuals who have made significant contributions to his or her
ethnic heritage and community and whose work has benefited the larger
community.
Coming
to the US in 1961, Gangolli became interested in volunteering in the
Indian American community in Seattle. At that time there were only
about 100 Indian families in the area. He thought the music of South
Asia could be a conduit for cultural understanding. What began as an
unnamed event - mini concerts mostly featuring musicians from India -
turned into a respected concert series that has since 1981 staged more
than 300 events of music and dance.
Gangolli
grew up in Mumbai. He lost his left arm in a train accident at the age
of 19. He finished first in his bachelor's examinations at the
University of Bombay and won a scholarship to attend the University of
Cambridge in 1957 to earn his masters. He obtained his PhD at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961 and came to Seattle to
teach mathematics a year later.
For
the past five years, Gangolli has been involved in a project that
advocates better mathematics education in the Seattle Public Schools.
Twenty-sever
years-old Vidya Ram was designated the top student in the Class of 2007
of the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University, New York.
Ms. Ram, originally from Chennai, India, topped a list of 28 honors
students in the school's M.S. program.
She
was awarded the Pulitzer traveling fellowship award, which she plans on
using to travel to and write about China. Ms. Ram received a big round
of applause when the school made the announcement on Journalism Day,
that she was the student of the year. It is very rare for foreign
students to win top honors at the school.
Ms.
Ram is the daughter of N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu. She
studied at Sishya in Chennai, Oxford University and the London School of
Economics before going to Columbia University in New York. She spent a
year teaching English in Harbin, China; interned at The Hindu
group's Frontline magazine in 2001-2002. She also worked at the
Hansard Society in London.
[Source:
GOPIO News]
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