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Abraham George

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Not to be confused with Abraham George (politician).

Abraham M. George
Born
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Occupation(s)Founder, The George Foundation
SpouseMariam George
Children2
Websiteshantibhavanchildren.org

Abraham M. George is an Indian-American businessman, academic, and philanthropist. He began his career in the Indian army as an artillery officer at the Se La mountain pass on the China-India border, the highest battleground in the Himalayas at that time. Following brief military service, he moved to the United States, where he earned two Master's degrees and a PhD in Business Administration from New York University. For nearly 25 years, Dr. George pursued a successful entrepreneurial career before returning to India in 1995 to address deep-rooted discrimination and economic oppression faced by the country's social underclass.

Among the initiatives he embarked on in India are the Shanti Bhavan Residential school to provide high-quality education to children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (www.iijnm.org), a premier post-graduate institution aimed at fostering a free and independent press in India. Further, he set up Baldev Medical & Community Center to serve the healthcare needs of 15 villages across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states. His work in environmental health was pivotal in the removal of lead from gasoline across India in April 2000, a milestone achievement in public health.

Dr. George is the author of three books on international corporate finance and two on his social work in India. Over the years, he has served on several prestigious boards such as the Human Rights Watch and the International Center for Journalists. He has been honored with numerous awards, including the Hind Rattan.

George has also been recognized as one of the world's leading social entrepreneurs.[1][page needed]

Early years

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George was born and brought up in the seaside city of Trivandrum, Kerala, at the southwestern tip of India. He is the second son of Mathew and Aleyamma George; one of four children.

Dr. George during the army days

At fourteen, George was admitted to the National Defence Academy in Khadakwasla. He subsequently went on to graduate as a second-lieutenant in 34th medium artillery regiment of the Indian Army. George's first posting in 1966 was to the Northeast Frontier that borders China, following the Sino-Indian War.[citation needed]

The assignment in sela pass in Northeast Frontier of India ended abruptly after only ten months when George was injured in a dynamite explosion. Upon his return from convalescence, he was assigned to the Indo-Pakistan border, where he served for nearly two more years and rose to the rank of captain.[2][non-primary source needed] George has spoken of his time in the army as formative experience: "There is, I suppose, some stage in each one’s life that has a greater impact on his future than all others. For me, it was these army experiences that helped shape much of my outlook on life."[2][non-primary source needed]

In 1968, the third year of George's service, he suffered a hearing disability. At the time, doctors in India were not trained to tackle his medical condition; it required specialized surgery. By this point, his mother was already in the United States, teaching physics and working for NASA as a research scientist. His mother's position afforded him the opportunity to come to America where he could have his surgery and start a new life.[citation needed]

Education and professional life

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George joined his mother in Alabama during the heyday of the segregationist governor, George Wallace. He found the transition to be overwhelming, later writing of it: "I felt I had gone to another world, not simply another country".[2][non-primary source needed]

Soon after arriving in America, George attended New York University's Stern School of Business as a graduate student. During that time, he became an American citizen.[3] He specialized in developmental economics and international finance, and soon after completing his doctoral work he decided to enter the teaching profession. Later, Chemical Bank, now part of JP Morgan Chase Bank, offered George a job as an officer in the bank which he accepted.[2][non-primary source needed]

George had worked for Chemical Bank for two years when he decided in 1976 to start his own company, Multinational Computer Models, Inc (MCM), which would offer computerized systems to large multinational corporations to enable them to deal with their international financial risks. MCM subsequently formed a joint venture with the global investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston where George served as the Chief Consultant and Managing Director of its new operations. In 1998, George sold MCM to SunGard Data Systems, a Fortune 500 company, where he served as a Vice-Chairman for two years.[2][4] He was on the boards of Vellore Christian Medical College & Hospital, International Center for Journalists, and Human Rights Watch. He is an adjunct professor at New York University Stern School of business.

The George Foundation and Shanti Bhavan Educational Trust

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George returned to India in January 1995 after a long absence. His intent was to reduce the injustices and inequalities of which he had become aware and to this end he established The George Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust .[2]

One of The George Foundation's first projects was to formally study the issue of leaded gasoline in India and its long-term effects on children. The study showed that 51% of children in urban areas suffered from high lead levels. This ultimately led to India's government banning leaded gasoline.[3]

Another of The George Foundation's projects is the Shanti Bhavan Residential School, which offers world-class education and care to children from the poorest segment of India. As of 2024, after 26 years of the school's operations, many of Shanti Bhavan's first students have now graduated from college and are employed by global companies like EY, Goldman Sachs, Google, and others -- an accomplishment that has no parallel in India's social history. [citation needed]

The Shanti Bhavan story is told by the life-journey of five of its girls in a four-part Netflix documentary, Daughters of Destiny.[5]

Writing

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George has authored several books and articles on international finance

  • International Finance Handbook (2 volumes), John Wiley & Sons (ISBN 0-471-09861-2)
  • Foreign exchange Management and the Multinational Corporation, Holt, Rinehart and Winston (ISBN 0-03-046641-5)
  • Protecting Shareholder Value: International Financial Risk Management, Prentice Hall (ISBN 0-7863-0439-1)

Since becoming a full-time philanthropist, George has written several articles and has published two books:

  • India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty, Writer's Collective (ISBN 81-88661-18-X) - A description of Dr. George's initial 10 years of social work in rural India.
  • Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment: Implementing a National Program in Developing Countries --distributed by World Bank to governments of developing countries in 2001 for policy implementation.[citation needed]

Awards

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  • NYU Stern School of Business' Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneurship Award, USA[6]
  • Spirit of India Award, American India Foundation, USA
  • Hind Ratna Award, Non-Resident Indian Association, New Delhi
  • Millennium Awards, Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center, USA
  • GOPIO (Global Organization of People of India Origin) 2017 Community Service Award
  • Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to social projects by Kerala Samaj, New York.

References

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  1. ^ Friedman, Thomas (2006). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-29279-5.
  2. ^ a b c d e f George, Abraham (2005). India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty. Cranston, RI: Writers' Collective. ISBN 1-59411-122-7.
  3. ^ a b Gross, Daniel (Fall–Winter 2006). "Return of the Native Son". STERNbusiness. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
  4. ^ George, Abraham. India Untouched.
  5. ^ Hale, Mike (28 July 2017). "Review: 'Daughters of Destiny' on Netflix Explores Caste Struggles in India". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Dr. Abraham M. George | Shanti Bhavan Children's Project". www.shantibhavanonline.org. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
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