Our Bureau
Washington
Honoring the life of Indian-American columnist Ved Nanda, who was the recipient of the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award for Community Peace Building in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2018, the US Congress this week described him as a prominent figure and a bridge between the US and India.
A well-known columnist for the Denver Post, who taught at the University of Denver for 50 years, Prof Nanda breathed his last early this month, at the age of 89.
“For over 5 decades, Professor Nanda uplifted the students of DU and the Indian diaspora community, becoming a prominent figure and a bridge between our two nations. He also served in several illustrious positions, including Chairman of the Board of the Hindu University of America and Vice President of the American Society of International Law,” Congresswoman Diana DeGette said on the floor of the US House of Representatives this week.
Ved P Nanda was a Distinguished University Professor and formerly Thompson G Marsh Professor of Law at the University of Denver, where he founded the International Legal Studies Program in 1972. He also directed the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law since its inception in 2006. The Center was established in his honor by alumni and friends, who also endowed a professorship in his name. He received Honorary Doctorates of Law from Soka University, Tokyo, Japan, and Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, India, and has taught and lectured at several universities in the US and abroad. He was also an honorary Professor of Law at the University of Delhi, India.
Professor Nanda held many leadership positions in the global international law community. He served as the US delegate to the World Federation of the United Nations Associations in Geneva and on the governing council of the United Nations Association of the USA. He was an officer and board member in several international and national NGOs and also served as Chair of the Uberoi Foundation for Religious Studies.
He received numerous national and international awards, authored or co-authored 24 books and over 225 chapters and law review articles in international and comparative law, wrote a column for the Denver Post, and was a regular commentator in both the electronic and print media.
