Two Indian-Americans were among seven people selected by the Asian American Heritage Council of New Jersey for its 2008 achievement awards.
IT entrepreneur Dr Rajan Vaz will receive the President's Award while Dr Ramesh Pandey, president of the Ayurvedic University, will receive the award reserved for a person from the Indian community. The awards will be presented at a gala banquet scheduled at the Meadowlands Sheraton, East Rutherford.
The finale of the Asian American heritage celebrations will be held June 1, with a parade in Bergenfield and Teaneck, Bergen County, which has a large Asian population, said Andrew Pappachen, president of the Council. Floats and dancers representing China, the Philippines, India, Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Bangladesh will participate in the parade.
A Gateway to Asia presentation will further showcase the principal attractions of these countries, while Asian food stalls and entertainment will be the added attraction.
Dr Vaz, an IT veteran of 25 years, is managing director of CDC Global Services. Prior to this, he founded several successful technology firms, including Integral Information Systems whose products are now part of larger enterprises like AspenTech.
His last venture was Software Galeria, Inc, an IT services company based in New Jersey that focused on project and process outsourcing. In 2000 CDC Corporation (formerly known as chinadotcom), a leading public enterprise software and IT services firm, bought Software Galeria. In addition to IT, Dr Vaz, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, has contributed to the field of chemical engineering through extensive research and development activities, and has several publications to his credit.
Professor Pandey is president and CEO of the GD Pandey Ayurvedic University, based in New Jersey. He has a distinguished career in the biomedical sciences spanning over 40 years. Till last June, he was the chairman, chief executive officer and founder of Xechem, Inc, XetaPharm, Inc, Xechem (India) Pvt Ltd, and chairman of the board and CEO of Xechem International, Inc.
He has taught at several universities, and worked with many government agencies and pharmaceutical companies worldwide including the National Cancer Institute, National Chemical Laboratory, India, the University of Illinois, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, and Abbott Laboratories.
For the past 10 years, he has been involved in research and development of drugs from indigenous natural sources worldwide, especially those used in traditional Chinese medicines, Ayurveda and, recently, medicinal herbs used in Nigerian folklore.
Image: Dr Rajan Vaz (inset) and Dr Ramesh Pandey.
