Sonny and Gita Ramaswamy Scholarship

This award was established by Drs. Sonny and Gita Ramaswamy (pictured, Gita on the left and Sonny on the right). Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy was appointed by President Barack Obama to head the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which supports research, extension, and education efforts in the food, agricultural, natural resources, and human sciences at Land-grant Universities throughout America. He held tenured professorial and administrative positions at Oregon State University, Purdue University, Kansas State University, and Mississippi State University. While at Kansas State University, he envisioned and built the KSU Insect Zoo. Sonny has taught and undertaken research in integrative reproductive biology of insects, and has mentored a number of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctorates. He received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in entomology; his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in entomology are from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. Dr. Gita Ramaswamy is the Senior Advisor for Scientific Integrity and Program Assessment in the Office of the Chief Scientist, USDA. Prior to joining USDA, she held tenured professorial and administrative positions at Oregon State University, Purdue University, Kansas State University, and Mississippi State University. Gita’s expertise is in textiles and the development of value-added products fibers, including biomedical applications. She also was instrumental in creating the framework for responsible conduct of research educational initiative and learning outcomes based assessment at Purdue and Oregon State University. Dr. Ramaswamy is an award-winning educator and researcher, and has taught courses in textile chemistry, fibers, and apparel design, and has mentored a number of graduate students. Dr. Ramaswamy received her Ph.D. from Mississippi State University in toxicology, her M.A. in textiles from Michigan State University, her M.Sc. (Ag) in entomology from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India, and her B.Sc. (Hons) in Zoology from Bangalore University. The kindness and generosity of Drs. Sonny and Gita Ramaswamy and their family in supporting the growth of our students is greatly appreciated!