By Maroon & White |
Dr. Sastry Vankamamidi understands the power of student financial aid. Sastry arrived in Halifax from India in 1973 on a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship. After earning his PhD, he joined the Saint Mary’s Faculty of Engineering in 1985 and became a full time associate professor the following year. A well-respected teacher, he soon earned a reputation for knowing all his students by name and taking a genuine interest in their success.
Sastry retired from Saint Mary’s 10 years ago, yet he remains an active member of the University community. He continues to make annual donations to support a bursary in his name, and he and his wife, Suseela, work year-round to raise funds for a bursary they established in her name. What’s more, they do it in a delightful way: by selling Suseela’s delicious, homemade samosas to our faculty and staff.
“It gives Suseela great joy to do this,” says Sastry. “We also donate some of the proceeds from samosa sales to the education of children in India through the Tribal Education Project in Ghatshila City.”
During a student recognition reception at Saint Mary’s on March 28th, Sastry and Suseela had the opportunity to meet Joel Best, this year’s recipient of the Dr. Sastry Vankamamidi Family Bursary, and Annette Duggan, who received the Suseela Vankamamidi Family Bursary.
“We are both very grateful for all Saint Mary’s has done for us and it gives us great pleasure to give something back,” says Sastry. “There’s also a special joy in meeting the engineering students who receive our awards. Their many ways of saying thank you are etched in my memory.”
