Deshpande is married to Sudha Murty’s sister Jaishree who is also a co-founder of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT.
Sudha Murty is one of the most celebrated philanthropists in India and it is worth noting that the charitable acts of the family are not limited to her. Sudha Murty’s husband, sisters, brother-in-law are also involved in philanthropy. One of Sudha Murty’s brother-in-law who has donated more than Rs 208 crore is Gururaj Deshpande. Known for his business skills, investments and vision, Gururaj Deshpande has donated to primarily back educational institutions and launch the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. A serial entrepreneur, Deshpande has started and sold a range of companies in the past few decades. He sold his first company Coral Networks for $15 million in 1993. He also sold Cascade Communications, one of the companies that he founded for $3.7 billion in 1997.
Born in Hubli, Karnataka, Gururaj Deshpande stayed in India till his graduation. His father was a labor commissioner with the Indian government. He graduated with a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from the IIT Madras. Following his graduation, he moved to Canada for higher studies. Currently, Gururaj Deshpande is serving as chairman of A123Systems, Sycamore Networks, Tejas Networks, HiveFire, Sandstone Capital and Sparta Group. Apart from this, he is also a board member at Airvana.
Former US President Barack Obama trusted Gururaj Deshpande for the Co-Chairmanship of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in July 2010. The group was established to support the US President's innovation strategy.
Deshpande is married to Sudha Murty’s sister Jaishree who is also a co-founder of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT.
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