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July 21, 1997

Narpat and Chandra Bhandari

Narpat and Chandra Bhandari are residents of Los Gatos, California. The couple established the Bhandari Foundation, a California charitable trust, in 1994. The foundation has supported a number of projects in the fields of education and medicine, notably a school near Jodhpur, India. The school provides formal education to 350 children who could not otherwise attend school. The Bhandaris immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s from India.

Chandra Bhandari was born in Jodhpur, India. She has worked in the field of education since 1965 as both a Montessori teacher and a volunteer. She has a long-standing interest in the study of peace and nonviolence as well as the art, history, politics, and culture of India. She received a B.A. in political science from Rajasthan University in Jodhpur in 1960 and conducted master's degree work in political science at both Rajasthan University and Purdue University.

Narpat Bhandari was born in Sojat, India. He is a private Venture Capitalist and serves as an adviser and/or board member to several electronics companies. At TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), he is engaged in a mentoring program for budding entrepreneurs.

Beginning at Signetics Corporation (now Phillips Corporation) as a senior scientist in 1976, Bhandari designed the first I2L microprocessor and later, at Fairchild Semiconductor, he led a 35-member team in new product development on the design of BiCMOS technology--the heart of many high-speed digital products in use today. In 1987, Bhandari founded Aspen Semiconductor, Inc., which has now merged with industry leader Cypress Semiconductor Corporation of San Jose. Bhandari has more than 30 patents and publications in the field of semiconductors, software, and HDTV (High-Definition TV).

From 1993 to 1995, Bhandari served as a board member of the federal Indo-U.S. Subcommission on Education and Culture, a program of the United States Information Agency.

Bhandari is a trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, a San Francisco Bay Area organization. He is cofounder and a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) of Santa Clara, and held a global chair for the group from its inception until 1996. He received the Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1992 from the National Federation of Indian Associations.


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