Indian Doctor donates $18.5 MM to USF

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<p>WASHINGTON: An Indian emigre has donated $ 18.5 million to put a modest American university on the international map, making him one of the largest known contributors from the Indian-American community for any single cause. </p>

<p>Patel, who was born in Zambia, studied medicine in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where he met his future wife Pallavi, also a physician. The couple has built a $ 1 billion health care business in Florida and…
…</p>

<p>Their previous contributions include $5 million for the Dr. Pallavi Patel School for the Performing Arts at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and $3 million for a new heart-research institute near University Community Hospital in Tampa.</p>

<p>Patel’s $18.5-million donation to USF includes $10 million to build the center, $2.5 million to operate it and $6-million for an endowment. </p>

<p>Donations on a similar scale by Indian-Americans include $ 20 million given to MIT by Desh Deshpande (Sycamore) and his wife Jaishree to establish the Deshpande Institute of Technological Innovation. </p>

<p><a href=“http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1117447,curpg-1.cms[/url]”>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1117447,curpg-1.cms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;