Suri Sehgal: Difference between revisions

'''Surinder Mohan (Suri) Sehgal''' is an [[Indian Americans|Indian-American]] philanthropist with a long career as a crop scientist, seedsman, entrepreneur, and leading global hybrid seed industry expert.<ref name="The Financial Express">{{cite web|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/indian-american-solving-rural-indias-challenges-wins-philanthropy-award/409986/|title=Indian American Solving Rural India's Challenges Wins Philanthropy Award|publisher=The Financial Express|date=October 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>''Maize Genetics and Breeding in the 20th Century'', ed. Peter Peterson and Angelo Bianchi, World Scientific Publishing Company, 1999.</ref> His research and professional successes in the areas of [[plant breeding]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plant breeding {{!}} History, Applications, & Methods {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/plant-breeding |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> and genetics, ag biotechnology, [[intellectual property]], business management, and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxRKguOVfS4 seed industry development]<ref>{{Citation |title=100 Voices on the International Year of Soils: Dr Suri Sehgal, Sehgal Foundation, India | date=29 December 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxRKguOVfS4 |access-date=2023-04-13 |language=en}}</ref> were carried out in executive capacities in several companies in the United States, Belgium, and Germany. After the divestment of a group of four seed companies that Sehgal founded and ran with his wife, Edda Sehgal, the couple created two nonprofit organizations to promote [https://indiacsr.in/s-m-sehgal-foundation-empowers-rural-rajasthan-through-community-led-development/ rural development]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-06 |title=S M Sehgal Foundation Empowers Rural Rajasthan Through Community-Led Development - India CSR |url=https://indiacsr.in/s-m-sehgal-foundation-empowers-rural-rajasthan-through-community-led-development/ |access-date=2023-04-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> in Suri's country of origin: Sehgal (Family) Foundation in 1998 in the US, and [https://www.smsfoundation.org/ S M Sehgal Foundation]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Sehgal |title=Sehgal Foundation |url=https://www.smsfoundation.org/}}</ref> in India. The foundation focuses on water security,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wire |first=A. B. |date=2016-05-06 |title=India needs to harvest water to end drought crisis: Indian American philanthropist Suri Sehgal - The American Bazaar |url=https://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2016/05/06/india-needs-harvest-water-end-drought-crisis-indian-american-philanthropist-suri-sehgal/,%20https://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2016/05/06/india-needs-harvest-water-end-drought-crisis-indian-american-philanthropist-suri-sehgal/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |language=en-US}}</ref> food security, and social justice, particularly empowerment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipbo.vib-ugent.be/team/suri-sehgal|title=Dr. Suri Sehgal Biography|publisher=International Plant Biotechnology Outreach}}</ref> A proponent of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability, Sehgal has also provided support individually and through the foundations for projects related to agriculture research,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icrisat.org/newsroom/news-releases/icrisat-pr-2003-media2.htm|title=ICRISAT Media Releases 2003: Sehgal Foundation Gifts Further $1 Million to ICRISAT|publisher=International Crops Research for the Semi-Arid Tropics|date=20 November 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/11/21/stories/2003112102110400.htm|title= Icrisat gets another $1 m donation from Sehgal Foundation|publisher=The Hindu Business Line|date=21 November 2003}}</ref> the preservation of [https://www.atree.org/s-m-sehgal-foundation-centre-biodiversity-and-conservation biodiversity]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-28 |title=S M Sehgal Foundation - Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation |url=https://www.atree.org/s-m-sehgal-foundation-centre-biodiversity-and-conservation |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atree.org/research/sscbc|title=Suri Sehgal Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation|publisher=Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment|date=19 March 2014}}</ref> and the conservation of [https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile?key=SEHG001 natural resources].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moines |first=Des |date=2 November 2022 |title=Sehgal Foundation {{!}} Foundation Directory |url=https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile?key=SEHG001 }}</ref>

Suri Sehgal met Edda Gudrun Jeglinsky (born December 25, 1941, in Breslau, Silesia) a few weeks after she first came to the United States from Germany in 1962 to live as an au pair in the home of [[Henry Kissinger]], a professor at Harvard at the time. Suri and Edda shared a refugee past as children. Edda's family had been forced to flee from their country of origin, German [[Silesia]], near the end of WWII. The Jeglinskys escaped to Bavaria in 1945 and battledsettled in Göppingen, Germany. When Suri completed his Ph.D. at Harvard, he moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to work with Bill Brown at Pioneer Hi-Bred Corn Company. After completing her two-year commitment to the Kissingers, Edda moved to Des Moines, Iowa. Suri and Edda were married in the home of Bill and Alice Brown in 1964. The Sehgals raised four children, helped raise two nephews, and opened their home to other relatives who emigrated from India to the United States. The creation of their foundations and the Sehgals’ ongoing commitment to philanthropy was rooted in the violence and loss they experienced during their childhoods as refugees fleeing from their countries of origin. Both are proud Americans who want to share their good fortune.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-01 |title=Sehgals: Planting Seeds for Change |url=https://booksmakeadifference.com/sehgal/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Books Make a Difference |language=en-US}}</ref>

*Hytech Seed India was recognized with two awards at the '''Agri Business Summit and Agri Awards, ABSA 2021''' Award for Best Field Crop Seed Company in the Agri Input Industry; and the Seedsmen Association Annual Awards 2021 under the category of Seed Entrepreneur for “valuable contributions to the farming community, in particular to the seed industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hytech Seed India bags two awards at ABSA 2021 - Agriculture Post |url=https://agriculturepost.com/farm-inputs/seeds/hytech-seed-india-bags-two-awards-at-absa-2021/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=agriculturepost.com|date=8 October 2021 }}</ref>