Unstoppable Campaign

Sustainable Gift

A Tribute to Sam M. Gibbons — 1920-2012

By Vickie Chachere | USF News

In their support of USF through the years, Drs. Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel have contributed more than $25 million in a series of donations and state matching funds that have been used to build and enhance a wide range of programs devoted to sustainable global development and healthcare. Their giving has supported the Patel School of Global Sustainability, the Dr. Kiran Patel Center for Global Solutions Operating Fund, USF Health, the construction of the Patel Center for Global Solutions and the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Endowment Fund.

Their latest gift in the USF: Unstoppable Campaign, a $12 million endowment announced in October, will be used to further advance global sustainable research at USF and help create the Patel College of Global Sustainability, a process that involves the review and approval of several university panels. One of the goals is to provide the next generation the tools it needs to build a healthier, more sustainable future, while developing a global network of sustainability leaders.

"The Earth is God's gift to humanity and we believe that the current generation must ensure that while meeting our present needs, we do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs," the Patels said in announcing the gift. "The world's rapidly depleting resources and growing population require us to become more efficient and think of new ways to develop sustainable and renewable sources of clean water, energy, food and transportation."

The proposed college will elevate the work of researchers and students at the Patel School of Global Sustainability — a graduate-level program focused on training new engineers, entrepreneurs and environmental managers to lead sustainability projects around the world. Recently the school became the first North American university in a research and strategy partnership with the UN-Habitat Partner University Initiative (see story). In 2011, the Patel School was selected by the World Bank to help develop and implement its urban water strategy in Africa.

The Indian-born Pallavi Patel calls the school a "do tank, not a think tank" because of its many projects aimed at applied research that can quickly be employed to improve lives in the developing world.

Kala Vairavamoorthy, the Patel School's executive director and a world sustainability leader, says the proposed college will focus on demand-lead, output-oriented research and teaching that "results in real and measurable changes on the ground in order to create healthy, livable and resilient cities." And, he says, it will "train a new generation of sustainability leaders equipped with the skills necessary to advance the growing green economy, both in the United States and across the globe."

Pallavi Patel and the Zambia-born Kiran Patel first met while studying medicine in Ahmedabad, India. Both doctors received their advanced specializations in New York at Columbia University — he in cardiology, and she in pediatrics. As the successful founders of a physician-owned and run managed care plan, the couple has turned their attention in recent years to philanthropy. They have earned a reputation for generosity for developing and funding a variety of programs in health, education, arts and culture, including the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions at USF, launched in 2005.

USF President Judy Genshaft says the university community is both inspired and humbled by the couple's generosity.

"We are inspired by the Patels' vision of a world where all people have a real chance to reach their full potential in a clean and healthy environment. We are humbled that they have entrusted the University of South Florida to be a partner in making the vision of a better tomorrow a reality."