On April 29, 2006, CIIS presented Rajnikant and Helen Desai with its Haridas Chaudhuri Award for Distinguished Service in honor of their contributions to celebrating and preserving the art and culture of India in the United States. The award was presented to the Desais at a gala dinner for the Institute’s Haridas Chaudhuri Endowment for South Asian Philosophy and Culture, which brings internationally recognized scholars, artists, and public figures to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Raj Desai formerly served on CIIS’s Board of Trustees, and Helen Desai currently serves as a
trustee for the Cultural Integration Fellowship, CIIS’s parent organization. The couple were founders of the Society for the Art and Cultural Heritage of India (SACHI), a nonprofit organization that provides forums to explore the richness and diversity of the art, culture, and heritage of India. They are also docents and donors for San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum.

For more information on this special event, please contact Dorotea Reyna, Director of Development, at 415.575.6135 or dreyna@ciis.edu.