Ashok Varadhan
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth
OVERVIEW: Ashok Varadhan and family move philanthropy through the Gopal Varadhan Memorial Foundation, which does not have a website and has given negligible funds of late. Available tax filings show that the foundation did not make any grant awards in 2018. Varadhan serves on the board of Harlem Children’s Zone and appears to prioritize educational and youth causes in his giving, with an eye towards New York City.
BACKGROUND: Ashok Varadhan grew up in New York City and graduated from Duke University with an economics degree in 1993. Initially wanting to be an academic, he attended the Ph.D. Finance program at Stanford University. Varadhan was a vice president in Swaps Trading at Merrill Lynch. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1998, and is is Global Co-Head of the Securities Division.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Ashok Varadhan sits on the board of Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. He is also on the board of directors of DUMAC, which manages Duke University’s endowment. He’s supported places like New York City Center, Child Mind Institute, Gateway School, Trinity Hall in New Jersey, and Ubuntu Education Fund. Varadhan also moves philanthropy through the Gopal Varadhan Memorial Foundation. His father, Abel Prize winning mathematician S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, is also on the board of the foundation. The charity bears the name of Varadhan’s late older brother Gopal, a rising finance star who died on 9/11.
The foundation has given negligible funds of late. In the past, grantees have included University of Buffalo Athletics, Brick Church School, and Birch Wathen Lenox School.
LOOKING FORWARD: Varadhan is only in his late 40s and still engaged in business. Gopal was an avid musician, so arts and culture and music education is one area for deeper grantmaking down the line.
CONTACT:
The Gopal Varadhan Memorial Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family but below is an address:
Gopal Varadhan Memorial Foundation
P.O. Box 73, Bowling Green Station
New York, NY 10274
(518) 640-5000
LINK: Ashok Varadhan Twitter
