Eight more students walk away from Harker this year, each having contributed a unique historical research paper to the growing archive housed in the John Near Research Center.
Harker’s two grant programs, The John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund, founded in 2009, and the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, founded in 2012, funded the students’ yearlong efforts. The range of papers for 2013-14 is remarkable. From an analysis of the viability of bitcoins to counter-intelligence efforts against the Black Panthers to the influence of the Roman Republic on the Constitution, each topic was plumbed by a student intrigued by its roots. At the annual reception in late April for Near and Mitra scholars, students and mentors spoke about the long road to complete a research paper and what they discovered about themselves and their topics, along the way.
Four of the papers address societal problems in the U.S. Connie Li, one of the five Near grant recipients, followed her muse to write “Islamic Student Experience in the Classroom after 9/11: A Holistic Analysis of Sociopolitical Influence on the Muslim Student Pysche,” finding that the most commonly used textbooks in U.S. schools use one-sided descriptions of Muslims; while Muslims find themselves discriminated against, there are Muslim voices that rise to protest being victimized and other voices that protest the demonization of Muslims.
The subject matter is of interest to every thinking American as it is one of the great polarizing topics of our time. Her three-plus page bibliography is impressive. “I’ve been devoted to understanding American identities under siege because religion is something so precious to identity, but so difficult to share peacefully, sometimes, that I have learned to measure the achievement of the American ideal of liberty against the progress and protection of religious freedom,” said Li. “My work is about reaching beyond the easy judgments, the sweeping generalizations and the self-defense of hate that is so easy to wrap around ourselves in times of both fear and comfort.”
In researching her topic, Divya Kaladindi selected a topic of great interest, as it is germane to our NSA-surveilled world. Kaladindi scrutinized the FBI’s famed 1960s Counter Intelligence Program (CoIntelPro), a counter-terrorism campaign bent on destroying groups identified as subversive in her paper, titled “Watching and Wiretapping: An Analysis of the Implications of the FBI’s Illegal Counter-Intelligence Programs against the Black Panther Party during the 1960s.” She focused on their penetration and destruction of the Black Panther movement, which included trashing their Chicago headquarters after contriving an excuse to search the premises.
Luckily, the program was exposed and, though the Black Panther Party was destroyed, the FBI came under such scrutiny it was forced to disband CoIntelPro, and regulations were put in place to prevent a similar effort from reoccurring. Kaladindi has successfully encapsulated a piece of political history in such a way that both ends of her chain, the pernicious facets of the FBI and the radicalism of the Black Panthers, stimulate tangential consideration. “I chose this topic mainly because of a strange fascination with the FBI,” she said.
Through her research, she found that, “The FBI was, in fact, just as interesting and scandalous as it appeared to be in popular culture but inherently much more complex. Guidelines, propriety and issues of legality fell to the sidelines as spying, forgery, harassment and psychological warfare reigned in desperate attempts to quash militant groups like the Panthers. This process was extremely demanding, but through it I learned the importance of time management and critical thinking. I’m probably on the FBI’s radar because I’ve visited their site so many times,” she noted.
One of the most original papers yet submitted was that by Monica Thurkal, who examined how curly hair has influenced the treatment of individuals in life and literature in her paper, “Wanton Ringlets: A Tangible Medium for Identity and Power.” Thurkal noted that she has straightened her hair for years, and that effort led her to question the value of conforming in order to fit in professionally, and how hair-straightening can affect a woman’s self-confidence. She addresses the cultural tendency of some ethnicities to straighten hair in order to become more mainstream, and how negative attitudes in literature towards kinky hair promote stereotypes and pigeonhole its wearers.
Wanton Ringlets is a phrase describing Eve from Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” and Thurkal notes it pins Eve with connotation of immorality. In her paper, Thurkal notes a number of legal precedents that appear to punish those with non-straight hair. Her paper is an interesting perspective on an unusual topic. “Through my project, I learned that hair is really a symbol of social oppression,” said Thurkal. “Why do popular teen movies or popular culture associate straight hair with womanhood, and why is straight hair an expectation for professional appearance within the business world? By changing their hair, women experience a troubling rejection of themselves. What was really cool was that I was able to create my own intellectual path within the subject of sociology,” she said.
This subject, though not at the forefront of social recognition, gives pause to those who have never considered the ramifications of hair. Thurkal has taken an uncomfortable reality and written about it thoughtfully and with insight that makes it relevant, no matter who you are.
Finally in the social consciousness collection, Zina Jawadi examines the disability rights movement in her paper, “The Hidden History of the Disability Rights Movement: Improving Access to Education in the Shadow of the Feminist and Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s and 1970s.” Jawadi, a tireless advocate for disability rights, noted that the movement is under-researched, though, promisingly, there has been a thousandfold increase in journal titles on the subject from 1979 to 2011. She notes that 50 years ago, as marginalized populations stood up to be recognized, the atmosphere created by the larger student movements, especially on college campuses, allowed disability rights efforts to be heard both due to entrenched powers being forced to examine their policies on civil and women’s rights and thus hearing about disabled persons’ needs, and because disabled rights workers were able to learn from observing successes of those managing other rights movements.
This is a paper filled with the passion of its writer and it is a must-read for anyone interested in human rights. “Initially, I expected my research to confirm my hypothesis that these social advocates supported each other, thereby strengthening all of the movements,” Jawadi said. “How wrong I was. My research gave me a greater understanding of what was going on behind the scenes,” and Jawadi noted there was often competition for media attention.
Jawadi, who has a significant hearing loss, said that ever since eighth grade, she has worked towards her lifetime goal to change the world of hearing, scientifically and socially.
Her work on the Near paper “helped me crystallize my calling,” she said. “A children’s advocate started a fund in 1973 hoping to provide children with disabilities better access to education. She was disgusted to discover from the U.S. Census Bureau that 750,000 children with disabilities, aged seven to thirteen, were not attending school. These children were hindered from receiving proper education because of their disabilities.”
“My research gave me a deeper perspective on the struggle people with disabilities face and, based on my research, I have developed a three-step plan for my disability rights work. I hope to witness a second disabilities rights movement.”
In a long step from disability rights, the paper “Bit by Bit: An Economic Analysis of Bitcoin’s Viability as a Currency,” by Anisha Padwekar, retails the growth of bitcoins, their advantages and disadvantages. Her paper is a well-researched, well-ordered contemporary analysis including relevant history, and is a great primer for anyone interested in the phenom of bitcoins.
While most readers are familiar with the term, and understand the protocurrency is digital, few grasp the technology behind it and the value – or the dangers – of the digital currency plan. Padwekar takes what could be a very dry subject and, using historical comparisons, news items on bitcoin and financial market analysis, defines for readers why bitcoins are attractive and yet not quite ready for prime time; she makes the topic not only readable, but interesting. “I wanted to choose a topic that would be a relevant economic question today,” said Padwekar. “Perhaps the most interesting part of my research were the tangents I went on. It was interesting to read about regional alternative currencies. While validating my interest in economics, the project helped me discover my interest in cryptography.”
In her paper, Padwekar notes how entrenched financial organizations, such as national banks, have yet to define bitcoins officially as currency, thus avoiding dealing with the many unresolved issues of money that is a string of numbers and not even nominally backed up by specie. Although Padwekar noted that for various reasons bitcoin will probably fail, interest in the subject remains high as digital currency seems like a predictable step in the development of our digital society. Recommended reading for anyone who would like to be able to contribute to the conversation next time the subject comes up!
Harker News has included Angela Ma’s accomplishments as a ballerina in a number of stories, and Ma has now taken her taken her passion from the stage to the library with her analysis, “The Role of Musicianship in George Balanchine’s Enduring Impact on American Contemporary Ballet.” Ma tracks the seminal choreographer as he learned to dance, play, compose and choreograph in his native Russia. So many talents packed into a single person is daunting, and Ma traces his growth through his other talents to that of the ultimate choreographer, despite Balanchine’s assertion that composing, not choreography, earned the “highest seats in heaven.”
Ma’s closely written analysis goes a long way toward explaining the complex relationship between a composition and how a choreographer translates that into dance. She mentions few specifics, but uses great illustrative anecdotes and quotes tell the story of how Balanchine thought, thus choreographed. Though the paper discusses the technical nature of composition, Ma brings forth the passion Balanchine felt in his four-decade collaboration with Igor Stravinsky and illustrates to readers how the partnership between the two men resulted in Balanchine’s timeless choreography.
“I initially chose this topic because dance has been such an irreplaceable and meaningful part of my life,” said Ma. “I wanted to explore ballet in a new way beyond the studio.” Looking back on the process, Ma noted that her mentors helped her to “learn so much about dance and intellectualism.” Ma illustrates the impact of dance, style and the depth that Balanchine brought to ballet, noting that in “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” he “complements the musical tempo and varying succession of notes with a customized dynamism of movement.”
The only paper that looked outside of the United States for subject matter addressed the similarities and differences between two modern revolutions, those in Poland and Tunisia. As with most revolutions, each government had to wear out its welcome – leaving the population without hope for improvement – before the citizenry pushed back and created such a groundswell of opposition that the governments threw in the towel rather than bring warfare into the picture to repress the revolution. But each kicked off a string of political upheavals in their greater geographical regions and the repercussions from each continue today in both regions.
Maya Madhavan wrote “A comparison of the Causes of the 1989 Collapse of Communism in Poland and the 2010 Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia,” and points out the differences between the populations’ education levels as being one of the determining factors in the instigation of each revolution, while both revolutionary groups shared economic distress. Tunisia’s jobs went to the well-connected and the younger generation saw their college educations going to waste while Poles of all ages suffered reverse after reverse under Communist rule. It goes almost without saying that oppression and corruption flourished in both countries.
Madhavan compared and contrasted the political atmospheres and used an accepted model of revolutions as a template to explain the differences. This paper tells the story of not just these two countries, but of the revolutions that shattered the Soviet Union and revolutions that took place in the Mideast over the last few years. We have not seen the end of conflict in either region, and this paper helps to bring clarity to the reasons these peoples stood tall for freedom.
“What surprised me the most was not their similarities, but their differences,” said Madhavan. “I went into this expecting to see a number of parallels between the two – you could say I overestimated the extent to which I thought history repeats itself. I don’t think I realized just how much the world has changed in the past 20 years, and never really understood the impact that recent technological advantages have had on the dynamics of our world.”
“For a long time,” Duraiswamy said, “my main academic interests have been the founding of America, the Constitution, and the classics, so my topic provided a nice opportunity for me to explore an intersection of these three subjects.”
Duraiswamy noted how Madison fought for not only a bi-cameral legislature, but for two different types of bodies to both represent the people’s stated wishes and to provide a check on those wishes when, motivated by some popular event, they conflicted with sensible progress. While many will have learned of the classical education given to those who could afford it in this country’s formative years, few of us consider what that education meant in terms of framing a document that would withstand challenge after challenge.
This is a paper that opens the door to as many questions as it answer. “The hardest part of the process for me was probably narrowing the focus of my topic,” said Duraiswamy. “In other words, using the greater length of the paper to add depth to my research rather than breadth. Initially, I thought I would explore the Roman influences on the entirety of Madison’s political thought, but after talking to my mentors, I realized that that was not narrow enough.
“If I tried to cover everything, my analysis would not be able to explore the intricacies of his ideas and would not be able to delve into primary sources as much. Instead, it would be better to pick one aspect of Madison’s philosophy and study its classical antecedents. Eventually, I settled upon the idea of the Senate within Madison’s political ideology, but it took me a significant amount of time and effort to get to that point since I had to explore many of his ideas to see which one had the most potential for my topic.”
The thoughtful reader need only reflect on the disarray that occurs in various foreign congresses to see the value in separating those elected as direct representatives of their constituents’ geographical and local political interests, and those that are charged with the task of doing what is right for the nation on a macro level. This was a most enlightening paper and will be relished by anyone interested in ancient and modern history.
Next year’s 2014-15 Near Scholars are Ayush Midha, Karnika Pombra, Apoorva Rangan, Vedant Thyagaraj and Felix Wu; the 2014-15 Mitra Scholars are Aadyot Bhatnagar, Maya Nandakumar, Agata Sorotokin and Stanley Xie.
Since the first grants were made in 2010, 21 original papers have been archived for reference in the John Near Resource Center. All papers are available on the Harker library website. Topics have included “Winston Churchill’s Efforts to Unify Britain From 1940-1941,” “Can Charter Schools Close the Achievement Gap?,” “Arleigh Burke’s Submarine-Based Finite Deterrent: Alternative to the Nuclear Triad,” to name just a few.
Each year, a number of students are selected from applicants to receive the grants and, each year, the completed papers are read, celebrated and archived as part of Harker’s legacy, honoring both donor families for their timeless contribution to both historical research and the intellectual growth of Harker students.
The John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund was established in memory of the 31-year veteran of Harker’s teaching staff, who passed away in 2009. Donors of the $300,000 endowment are James and Patricia Near, John’s parents, and in John’s own words, the proceeds will be used “to help develop the history department, both through the acquisition of resources and providing growth opportunities for both faculty and students.”
The Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities was established by Samir and Sundari Mitra.“The subject matters taught under humanities such as history, languages, communications and philosophy are critical skills and knowledge that develop well-rounded Harker students,” said Samir Mitra. “Humanities is the bedrock of a superior education and will enable our students to stand out as recognized contributors in their future professions.”
Harker’s efforts to fund its planned events center received a huge boost in early May when Chris Nikoloff, head of school, announced the school has received a historic $10 million matching gift challenge by Harker parents Jeff and Marieke Rothschild. The events center will house a theater, gymnasium and all necessary supporting facilities.
Parents, alumni and other friends of Harker can have their gifts matched by making a pledge or donation to the capital campaign prior to the start of the 2014-15 school year. Pledges can be paid in as late as 2016, so families should pledge their donation, now, to qualify for matching funds, but can make the actual payment as late as 2016.
Construction of the new center could begin a full year earlier than expected if the full amount of the pledge is matched, opening the building to students in fall 2016. The additional space will free up athletic and performing arts areas for other uses, including the expansion of the Visual Arts Department and the creation of the Harker Innovation Center, which will house the school’s new Business & Entrepreneurship Department.
For more details, including Harker’s strategic plan and the 2020 Harker Vision Statement, go to http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=274. See, there, also , links to features and benefits of the planned events center. Details about the Matching Gift Challenge can be found in the “Rising To the Challenge” booklet. And to see a virtual tour of the new events center and to hear how the facility will enhance student life at Harker, check out “The Events Center Video,” which features comments about the project from parents, alumni, students and faculty.
For more information or to discuss pledge options, please contact Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, at 408-345-9266 or joer@harker.org.
This story originally appeared in the spring 2014 Harker Quarterly.
by Ellen DiBiase
The Vashist Family
Rajesh and Rohini Vashist (Mallika, grade 6) embody both the philosophy and mission of Harker to develop not only lifelong learners but also well-rounded, caring citizens. “Like many parents, we want our child to do well and go to a top school. More than that, however, we want her to be a lovely and confident, good human being,” said the couple.
Several years ago, when considering schools for their daughter, the Vashists noticed that many of their friends’ children attended Harker, and they found Harker students to be exceptional in both their intellectual curiosity and character. The Vashists appreciated that at Harker they would be surrounded by a mix of parents who are serious about education.
Upon joining the Harker community, the Vashists began to contribute their time and resources in a number of meaningful ways. Each year, they have supported the annual Harker Family & Alumni Picnic as well as the Harker Fashion Show (now called Night on the Town), and Rohini has volunteered in her daughter’s homeroom and with various performing arts programs.
On top of their annual giving contribution, the Vashists also have made a very generous commitment via a planned gift of privately held stock to the school. In doing so, they became members of the Entrepreneurs’ Circle within The Nichols Family Planned Giving Society at Harker. “We want to do everything we can to support the quality of teachers, programs and classrooms in order to perpetuate the Harker experience for as many children as possible,” said Rohini, who especially values the great learning opportunities Harker students have beyond the classroom.
Formerly in international hotel management with the Sheraton Group and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, she appreciates the trips and excursions that supplement the students’ education. Her husband, a fellow avid traveler, has spent the majority of his career in the semiconductor industry and since 2007 has served as the CEO of SiTime Corp., the fastest-growing semiconductor company.
Daughter Mallika currently participates in the Spirit Club, dance and basketball at Harker. “We see the phenomenal product of Harker, and we feel blessed and lucky to live close enough to be a part of this community,” said Rohini.
Margaret Peterson
As the founder of Harker’s visual arts program, Margaret Peterson introduced a variety of techniques and art forms to the school’s students over the course of 22 years, both as a teacher and a volunteer.
Introducing art to the Harker community was a gradual process, as appropriate spaces had to be identified to house an art studio, display student pieces and store large equipment, such as a kiln. Through the years, student artwork gained prominent displays around campus in an effort to showcase the diverse talents of Harker students. “Display of our art at school and out in the community was important because it gave students pride in their work and because it would be a visible addition to Harker’s strong academic program,” said Peterson, who began teaching at Harker in 1982.
Peterson first taught art after school and to grades 6-8 and later added K-5 art classes. Her classes featured lessons in clay, block prints, sculpture and water- color, and her students were known for using repurposed wire frames each year to build large papier-mâché models including a dinosaur and a Volkswagen car, which were then featured in Harker’s annual Halloween parade.
Peterson retired from Harker in 2002 but continued to volunteer in the after-school program for two more years. Upon her retirement, she pledged to make a planned gift to Harker’s general endowment fund with the intention that, as the administration sees fit, the proceeds could be used toward scholarships and, in particular, scholarships to visual arts students who might not otherwise be able to attend or continue to attend Harker.
This story originally appeared in the spring 2014 Harker Quarterly.
During its annual luncheon in November, the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Silicon Valley chapter recognized Harker Board of Trustees member Dr. Jeffery Lee and his wife, Susan Lew Lee, for their fundraising efforts and service to the local community. The Lees are parents of Jeffrey ’92 and Kathryn ’04.
Lee is an Honorary Council member for Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI). He and his wife have worked tirelessly collecting much-needed toiletries and other daily necessities for abused women and children staying at AACI’s shelter.
Michele Lew, AACI president and CEO, was quoted in her organization’s recent newsletter as saying, “I’m honored to know Jeff and Susan and thrilled that they were given this recognition. They are a model couple when it comes to giving back to the community.”
This story originally appeared in the spring 2014 Harker Quarterly.
There is not a single student on any of Harker’s four campuses who doesn’t benefit directly from the school’s annual giving campaign. These charitable contributions fund Harker’s Margin of Excellence – programs not completely covered by tuition and fees.
“These are items such as athletics and clubs, performing arts, visual arts, technology, library, teacher training and day field trips,” explained Melinda Gonzales, Harker’s managing director of advancement.
Annual campaign funds aid the entire Harker community, including students of all ages, as well as their families and teachers. Even everyday activities such as enjoying a class party or simply checking out a book from the library are made possible by the annual campaign.
“The Margin of Excellence is what makes the Harker experience so exceptional,” said Gonzales.
At the new Harker Preschool, for example, annual campaign funding will enable the purchase of a chicken coop and bunny hutch for the farm, as well as light tables, outdoor play kitchens, library stations, xylophones and color printers.
At the lower, middle and upper schools, annual giving has funded many unique items during the past couple of years, including a tuba, trombone and harp for the upper school orchestra; a 3-D printer for STEM students; child-sized art tables for the lower school; equipment for middle school biology and physical education classes; and professional-grade DSLR cameras and lenses, GoPro video cameras and a drone for upper school journalism students.
“This equipment is transforming our potential and capacities for telling our stories, as well as giving journalism students experience with and training on high-end photojournalism gear,” said Ellen Austin, upper school journalism teacher.
Austin added that her students have started winning individual awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for the writing, videos and design work they’ve done using the new equipment bought with funds from the annual campaign.
Meanwhile, Chrissy Chang, P.E. department chair for K-8, said, “Thanks to the monies from annual giving, we have been able to purchase new fitness equipment. Some of the items are kettle bells, body bars and battle ropes. Also, we have been able to restock balls and hockey equipment. This has allowed the P.E. staff to create new fun fitness lessons. We, the P.E. department, are very appreciative of all the funds received from annual giving.”
At the lower school, art teacher Gerry-louise Robinson said that the new tables have been an amazing addition to the her classroom. “Having the tables has not only opened up the art room’s space but also changed the way that the students are able to work.”
As an independent private school, Harker does not receive funds from government, religious or other organizations and must cover all operations and capital improvements through tuition and fees, and charitable and capital contributions.
Having a high percentage of participation is important, as it puts Harker in the best possible position to receive foundation and corporate grants.
“We are grateful to our many families who have already participated in annual giving this year. Their contributions benefit every student and teacher here at Harker!” said Gonzales.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
by Ellen DiBiase
The Harker School has submitted a grant application to the Wayne & Gladys Valley Foundation for a gift of $5 million to be used in the construction of a sports and performing arts complex on the Saratoga campus.
Independent schools do not often qualify for large grants from community or educational foundations, as most educational grants target underprivileged populations. However, the Harker advancement team has identified a few foundations for which the school does meet the baseline criteria and has worked to articulate the school’s especially strong case for support.
The primary appeal highlights the importance of providing quality facilities not only for academics, but for athletics, the arts and student clubs as well, in order to help students achieve their full potentials. The addition of a sports and performing arts complex to the upper school campus is a greatly needed facility that will benefit the daily lives of students in profound ways, whether it is on the court, on the stage or in the classroom.
“Parents play a critical role in the success of any application we make to a charitable foundation,” explained Joe Rosenthal, Harker’s executive director of advancement. “Parent participation in annual giving is the common metric used to determine how broad
a school’s base of support is for its annual operations. Having a high percent of participation in annual giving puts the school in the best possible position to secure additional funding from foundations, because foundations want to add value and not replace stakeholders’ responsibility. Other independent schools in the Bay Area that have received foundation support have participation rates in the mid-to-high 90th percentile. Foundations may eliminate from consideration schools that don’t have a high percentage of participation.”
Rosenthal went on to add that as Harker was wrapping up the 2012-13 school year, “We made a special end-of-the-campaign appeal to increase participation in order to put Harker in as good a position as possible to secure the $5 million grant from the Valley Foundation. It was then that we asked the Harker community to rally and encouraged anyone who had not yet given to the annual giving campaign to please do so. We explained the importance of participation as it relates to the grant application. During the end-of-the-campaign appeal, we embarked on ‘The 5-for-5 Campaign.’ The premise was simple: give $5 (or $50, $500 or even $5,000) to help the school secure the $5 million grant. Parent response to the 5-for-5 campaign was very good, and we were able to boost our parent participation rate by an additional 17 percentage points in the final weeks of the campaign.”
It is anticipated that Harker’s application will be reviewed by the Valley Foundation this fall. The school will also be submitting grant proposals to additional foundations in the spring of 2014. With the Valley Foundation and other grant applications in the works, the school is increasing its effort to get the word out, which is why making a gift or pledge now, in the fall of 2013, is of the utmost importance.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
A Class of 2013 Endowment Fund has been established using the $45,429.90 raised from last year’s Senior Parent Appreciation Gift (SPAG).
It was parents from Harker’s first upper school graduating class who established the now annual tradition of SPAG, where parents make a gift in appreciation of the time their child has spent at Harker and the education they have received.
In past years, any incremental giving to the annual giving campaign over and above what a family had given during the previous year went to fund a beautification project on campus. Starting last year, SPAG funds go towards establishing a class fund that becomes part of the general endowment.
If the parents of graduating seniors choose to make a gift of $2,014 or more, their children receive bricks inscribed with their names permanently placed in Graduates’ Grove on the upper school campus, installed at a ceremony in the spring. Gifts for senior bricks also count for SPAG.
According to the advancement office, alumni and alumni parents are encouraged to contribute to their class funds going forward, not just for their senior years.
This story originally appeared in the fall 2013 Harker Quarterly.
by Ellen DiBiase
The Madala Family
Embodying the entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit of the Bay Area, Srini and Durga Madala (Samantha, grade 11; Ajay, grade 5), are well known in the Harker community for their contributions to the advancement of the school.
Harker parents since 2003, they sponsored the construction of the Madala Biology Center in Nichols Hall on the Saratoga campus during Phase III of the Cornerstones of Success campaign. The biology center features state-of-the-art equipment that allows Harker students to conduct research at or beyond the college level and is one of five science centers within Nichols that enables better collaboration for both students and teachers.
The Madalas’ charitable giving to Harker didn’t stop with a major capital gift, however; they have also made generous contributions to the endowment fund, and in the 2007-08 school year, they pledged to make a 2:1 gift match for an increase in any family’s annual gift and a 5:1 gift match for donors who had not made a gift in the previous year, up to $1 million total. All in all, those matches were honored for the annual gifts of more than 550 Harker families in the 2007-08 school year.
Srini Madala is chairman and founder of the Softsol Group in Fremont, which is an IT services provider that empowers the customer to achieve efficiency, innovation, compliance and cost savings. He has also served on the board of directors for KQED San Francisco. Durga Madala works as a cardiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose and received her medical training through the University of California, San Francisco and California Pacific Medical Center.
Together, the Madalas’ latest venture has been the construction of a 42,000-square-foot community development center in Srini’s hometown of Nizamabad, India, where families can come together to share in educational, athletic, entrepreneurial and health-based activities. In memory of Srini’s grandparents, this extensive project was funded by the Madala Family Charitable Trust.
With their expertise in philanthropy and community development, the Madalas were key members of Harker’s capital campaign committee in its previous phase. The Madalas have generously opened their home to several head of school gatherings and hosted a head of school celebration dinner. Srini has served on the parent technology committee at Harker and in recent years has also worked directly with Harker students as both a career panelist and mentor. Ajay and Samantha have both been active participants in the Harker performing arts program, and Samantha has also played lacrosse for the upper school.
The Singh Family
For Jagdeep and Roshni Singh (Noor, grade 9; Kismet, grade 6; Nageena, grade 4), choosing to make a visionary gift to support the construction of a new pool on the Saratoga campus felt like a natural fit.
“All three of my daughters swim,” Roshni Singh said. “My mother was a national athlete in India as well as a Ph.D. in psychology. As a family, we have seen the benefit of both academics and athletics.”
A practicing physician at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara, she is board-certified in internal medicine and hospice and palliative care. Her husband, Jagdeep, is the cofounder and CEO of Quantum-Scape, an energy storage corporation, and holds degrees from the University of Maryland, Stanford, and the University of California, Berkeley. Previous, he co-founded and served as president and CEO of Infinera. He has been an advisory council member for the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is also an advisory board member of RWI Ventures.
Since the installation of the Singh Aquatic Center in 2007, all previous pool records at Harker have been broken. The 25-yard pool features eight lanes and supports the competitive swim team and the water polo team. It is also home to the popular duct tape regatta, an annual spirit event in which classes compete against each other in a relay race using boats made only of duct tape and cardboard. The pool is further made available to the greater community for independent sports leagues and swimming lessons.
In addition to the Singhs’ capital campaign gift in Phase III, they have also offered volunteer and sponsorship support to special events at Harker, including the Family & Alumni Picnic and the 2013 Harker Fashion Show. Roshni has served as a homeroom volunteer and is currently a parent ambassador welcoming new families entering grade 4.
Teré Aceves, director of preschool and lower school volunteer programs, commented that, “Jagdeep and Roshni can often be found at the Harker community socials, poised to help in any way they can.”
The Singh family is an exemplary model of how even the busiest of parents can find time to offer their support to the school in a variety of ways. “We hope that Harker will continue to excel in all avenues,” Roshni said.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly. Read the complete issue at http://bit.ly/10W17nX.
The Board of Fellows, an advisory board to Harker’s Board of Trustees, welcomed six new members during its spring reception held in April.
Current parents Dr. Raju Vegesna and Jeffrey Rothschild joined Harker alumni Ayanna Cage ’89, Ken Hunt ’79, Maheen Kaleem ’03 and John Owens ’85 in becoming part of a dedicated group of current parents, alumni parents and alumni who meet regularly to exchange ideas on strategic planning for the school.
Vegesna, a highly respected Silicon Valley entrepreneur, currently chairs the Raju Vegesna Infotech & Industries Group, a consultancy firm serving the information technology industry. Earlier in his career, he leveraged his technical and business expertise to found two leading technology companies, ServerWorks and ServerEngines. He and his wife, Bala, live in San Jose and are the parents of twins Ramanand and Srivani, grade 5.
Rothschild and his wife, Marieke, are the parents of Isaac, grade 11. Rothschild currently serves as the vice president of technology at Facebook and works as a consulting partner with Accel in Palo Alto. He co-founded Veritas Software, which merged with Symantec in 2004.
Cage is a corporate paralegal with Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto. She brings 14 years of experience as a paralegal, law clerk and licensed attorney in the state of New Jersey, including five years of experience in private practice. She is engaged to be married to John Carey this July.
Hunt, who received a Distinguished Alumni Award at the 2012 Harker Homecoming game, currently serves as the president of Produxs, which designs online marketing platforms for Fortune 500 corporations and sophisticated consumer video sites. With his experience in strategic marketing, he has secured and managed millions of dollars in commercial deals, government contracts, grants and venture capital. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Mary, 13, and Kenneth, 9.
Kaleem has done extensive work in the movement against human trafficking. As one of the leaders of the Georgetown University anti-trafficking group SSTOP (Students Stopping the Trafficking of People), she helped organize a regional student conference on trafficking and is currently completing her studies as a student attorney at the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2010 she received the Community Service Award at Harker’s All-Alumni Day.
Owens is a partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. He graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School in 1996 and served as a law clerk for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and for the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that he was a federal prosecutor for more than 11 years, focusing on white-collar fraud and corruption cases. He and his wife, Marjorie, have two daughters, Jaclyn, 8, and Audrey, 4, and live in San Diego.
The Board of Fellows reception was hosted by Dr. Randhir and Shalini Thakur (Chandini, grade 9; Keshav, grade 8; Shivani, grade 3) at their Fremont home.
This article was originally published in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly. Read the complete issue at http://bit.ly/10W17nX.
As Harker’s “Cornerstones for Success” campaign continues to gain momentum, the school’s advancement team is proud to announce that Jeffrey and Marieke Rothschild (Isaac, grade 11) have made a generous visionary level gift to the campaign.
The celebrated purchase of the Union Avenue campus accelerated the need for Harker to swiftly address the cross-campus improvements outlined in its strategic plan. Now, thanks to the generosity of current parents like the Rothschilds, several much-needed facilities will be in place for the upcoming generation of Harker students.
Involved with Harker since 2010, Jeff and Marieke Rothschild have been very supportive of the capital campaign to build a sports and performing arts complex on the upper school campus. After meeting with Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, to first learn about the benefits of Harker purchasing a third property and building the proposed complex on the upper school campus, the duo have offered valuable input on the process.
Jeff Rothschild began his career as an engineer working on operating systems and mainframe storage systems with Honeywell and Intel. In 1994, he joined Accel as an entrepreneur-in-residence, which later led to his initial involvement with Facebook as a consultant. After his consultancy via Accel ended at Facebook, he was asked to stay on as a staff member to assist in maintaining the resiliency of their expansive system of servers. He currently serves as the vice president of technology at Facebook, a role he has held since 2009, and continues to maintain his relationship with Accel as a consulting partner.
He and his wife have long supported a variety of educational institutions both locally and across the country. The Rothschilds sponsor a scholarship for undergraduate students in financial need at Vanderbilt University (Jeff’s alma mater), and earlier this year he participated in the 2013 Harker TEDx conference as a guest speaker.
The Harker TEDx program, run solely by students to foster and promote dialogue on youth entrepreneurship, began in 2011 and continues to grow each year with support from parent entrepreneurs who are willing to spend their time mentoring Bay Area students. Isaac Rothschild has also been active in youth entrepreneurship, representing Harker at the Entrepreneurship Leadership Conference this past March after being nominated by Harker faculty to attend.
The Harker School extends its gratitude to the Rothschild family for their charitable gift to the school and welcomes them to an exceptional group of capital campaign donors who have long supported the school’s growth across all three campuses.