Ratan N. Tata ’59, B.Arch. ’62, one of India’s most influential and respected business leaders and philanthropists, and a former Cornell trustee who became the university’s largest international donor – supporting scholarships, research to reduce poverty and malnutrition in rural India, and technological innovation – died on October 9 in Mumbai. He was 86.

Tata was chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Groupa multinational conglomerate with interests ranging from steel, cars and infrastructure to financial and digital services, consumer brands and hospitality. The company expanded its global reach and grew significantly under Tata’s leadership from 1991 to 2012, with sales exceeding $100 billion at his retirement, while being recognized for its focus on the public good. From 2012 until his death, Tata was chairman of the Tata trustsIndia’s largest private sector philanthropic organization and owner of a 66% stake in the Tata Group, as well as its own venture capital firm.

In 2008, a $50 million gift from the Tata Trusts created the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutritiona long-term research initiative, and donated the Tata Scholarship for Students from India. In 2017, a $50 million investment from Tata Consultancy Services helped build the Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island campus in New York City.

“Ratan Tata left an extraordinary legacy in India, around the world and at Cornell, which he cared deeply about,” said Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff. “Ratan’s calm demeanor and humility belied his international profile. His generosity and care for others made possible research and scholarship that improved the education and health of millions of people in India and abroad, and expanded Cornell’s global impact.”

Born in 1937 into a prominent industrial family, Tata made his own way through Ithaca and enrolled at Cornell with the encouragement of close family friends in the US. Tata arrived as a member of the Class of 1959 who intended to study mechanical engineering, after two years Tata decided to study architecture instead.

Although he did not pursue a career in architecture – he was called back to the family business and started as an apprentice on a shop floor at Tata Steel – Tata served on the judging panel for the Pritzker Architecture Prize from 2014 to 2019, one of the best in the field. honor. He credited his architectural education at Cornell for some of his success in business, including learning to deal with problems creatively and from multiple perspectives.

“The miles of tracing paper we all wasted on one concept after another did one thing: it taught us that we weren’t sticking to one thing,” Tata said in a documentary produced by classmates for his 50th reunion in 2009. “ We tried and we tried, and we improved, and we rethought what to do. It is no different in the business world.”

“When Ratan Tata graduated from Cornell with a degree in architecture, it would have been impossible to imagine the global impact that his visionary leadership, philanthropy and commitment to humanity would continue to have – advancing education and research across many sectors ” said J. Meejin Yoon, the dean of Gale and Ira Drukier of AAP. “As I look back on Ratan’s life and career, I am filled not only with gratitude for all he gave and achieved, but also with a deep respect for his kindness, generosity and eternal optimism that touched lives in India and around the world has improved.”

Tata’s engineering and design background was instrumental in Tata Motors’ 2008 launch of the Tata Nano, then the world’s most affordable production car, which aimed to improve safety for lower-income drivers, limited to motorcycles and scooters.

In the reunion documentary, Tata discussed his dislike of Ithaca winters, appreciation for his fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi, and love of flying, a hobby he pursued as a student. (With several classmates on board, he once safely performed an emergency landing at what is now Ithaca Tompkins International Airport after a strut failed in the single-engine Tri-Pacer he was piloting.) He also discussed some of the challenges international students faced , at a time when few came from India – figures that would boost his 2008 donation. Since this academic year, 305 Tata Scholarships have been awarded to 89 students from India, with a special emphasis on supporting students from ‘non-feeder’ schools, attracting talented candidates and raising the university’s profile there.

Meanwhile, the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition continues to develop and assess innovative food systems-based approaches to reduce poverty and improve nutrition and livelihoods in the developing world, with a specific focus on India. Multidisciplinary teams with expertise ranging from economics and development sociology to international food and nutrition sciences are based in Ithaca, Mumbai and New Delhi.

These initiatives followed then-President David Skorton’s 2007 visit to India with a Cornell delegation to learn about the country’s growing influence and promote closer ties. Tata helped facilitate the delegation’s meeting with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior officials in government, business and education.

At Cornell Tech, the Tata Innovation Center provides space for education, research and interaction with industry partners. The building also houses Cornell Tech students and recent graduates who develop and commercialize new ideas, technologies and products, and launch startups.

“What we have to recognize here today is not just the naming of a building, not just a new campus, but a very bold statement,” Tata said at the building’s dedication in 2017.

In addition to three terms as a trustee, from 2006 to 2022, Tata was named Cornell’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013 and from 2014 she served on AAP’s Advisory Board. In addition to many international awards, Tata received two of the Indian government’s highest civilian awards; was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering as a foreign associate in 2013; and in 2012 received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Philanthropy from the Rockefeller Foundation for “carefully integrating the public interest into the Tata Group’s business model.” In 2007, the Tata family received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and Barron’s magazine named Tata one of the 30 most respected CEOs in the world.

Tata, who never married or had children, valued his years in Ithaca and returned regularly for trustee meetings and reunions.

“Getting through Cornell gave me a sense of achievement,” Tata said in 2009. “Those years at Cornell were probably the best investment you could have made in time.”