A Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) alumna and her husband, a current member of the Tepper School of Business faculty, have given a $1 million gift to support construction of a new home for the business school as part of the newly established David A. Tepper Quadrangle, the school announced last week.
The gift is from Gunjan Kedia, MSIA ’94, and her husband, Sridhar R. Tayur, a professor of operations management at Tepper. “Our 20-plus years of association with the Tepper School and Carnegie Mellon have been rewarding, both professionally and personally,” the couple said in a joint statement. “We are excited to contribute toward and to be a part of the new Tepper Quadrangle, and we look forward to many more decades of being engaged with the university.”
Kedia, who earned her MBA with distinction at Tepper in 1994 and serves on the school’s Business Board of Advisors, is currently executive vice president in State Street Corporation’s Investment Services division. Her previous roles include executive vice president of global product management at Bank of New York Mellon, partner with McKinsey & Company and associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Tayur has been a member of the Tepper faculty since 1991, teaching across a range of fields including supply chain management, emerging technologies in healthcare and digital media. He has founded a supply chain software company, SmartOps Corporation, and a hybrid social enterprise OrganJet and GuardianWings, which coordinates air transport for transplant patients.
“In terms of business and entrepreneurship, Gunjan and Sridhar are highly accomplished professionals. In terms of education, they have been outstanding supporters of the school over the years, and we appreciate their commitment to the future of business education,” Tepper Dean Bob Dammon said in a statement. “I feel privileged to have had Gunjan as a student in my class and to watch the success that she has earned throughout her career. Sridhar is a wonderful faculty colleague and a highly respected and accomplished researcher and entrepreneur. They are both an inspiration to me and the entire Tepper School community.”
The couple’s gift will help fund construction of a 295,000-square-foot facility, the first structure within the new Tepper Quadrangle. The Quadrangle – designed to promote collaboration across CMU – will be home to several strategically interconnected entities, including the Tepper School, the CMU Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and The Simon Initiative.
