HUNTSVILLE — Dr. Amit Arora and his brothers Vivek and Rahul have made a gift of $105,000 to the University of Alabama in Huntsville to honor the 80th birthday of their father, Dr. Mulk R. Arora.
This commitment to UAH’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences will fund the Dr. Mulk R. Arora Endowed Lecture in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The gift will support a yearly campus-wide lectureship for community engagement, promoting scholarship and inspiring global connections.
“Growing up, our parents always spent time helping and mentoring young graduate students,” Amit Arora said. “Higher education was a core component of our family’s experience. UAH is intertwined with the greater Huntsville community, and this lectureship will allow the next generation of UAH students and visitors to learn something new, or experience something different.”
The lecture series will enable the college to bring noted South Asian artists and scholars to UAH and Huntsville, creating events that will inspire attendees to learn about and appreciate South Asian culture.
“Our faculty, staff and students are grateful for the opportunities made possible by the Dr. Mulk R. Arora Endowed Lecture in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences,” said Dr. Sean Lane, dean of the college. “The series will allow our students to have a rare opportunity to meet and interact with top intellectuals in their fields, our faculty to pursue fruitful collaborations and the College to expand our efforts to engage more deeply with the community.”
Arora and his wife, Dr. Aruna Arora, are local neurologists. They decided to fund the lectureship with his brothers to honor family patriarch.
“My wife, Aruna, grew up in Huntsville, and my parents moved here when I was in college,” he said. “We both spent several years in Birmingham for medical school and neurology training and had a chance to see Huntsville continue to grow as a city.
“We are so lucky to be in Huntsville – it’s a wonderful city to raise a family and we couldn’t have been happier with our decision.”
To be able to give back to his community in this way while honoring his father has meant a great deal to him personally.
“Our father has always been a kind, thoughtful man,” Amit said. “He has very little interest in any material gifts. “Vivek, Rahul and I thought about ways we could honor him in a way he could enjoy. He was so happy when he found out and was grateful to the university.”
The presentation was made on the steps of the newly renovated Morton Hall on the UAH campus in order to highlight the importance of the humanities in education.
“While his degrees were in science and engineering, his love of the humanities was palpable to all of us,” Rahul Amora said. “My brothers and I were constantly advised when growing up to dig deeper in history, philosophy and the arts. It was part of his hope that we would become more multidimensional. As a father, he has given us a model of life-long learning in the pursuit of trying to live a better life.”
“Our father’s passion for philosophy, history and other humanities played a significant role in what I studied in college and graduate school and what’s important to me today,” said Vivek Arora. “I am excited for the opportunity for UAH to honor his legacy and hopefully this lecture series can impact the UAH students and community in a similar manner.”
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