Gill pays back some to his alma mater.
By Raif Karerat
An Indian American entrepreneur has made a significant contribution to his alma mater, Panjab University, in Chandigarh, India.
Jaswant Singh Gill, chief executive of California-based Sun Deep Cosmetics Inc., donated $200,000 to the academic institution in order to establish a fund for the students at the University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The fund will provide scholarships for 13 students annually.
Recalling his university days, Gill told The Tribune of Chandigarh, he was granted admission to the university in 1964 on an “assured scholarship basis,” which used to be given to the top graduate of the two-year pharmacy diploma course from the Amritsar Medical College.
“I got a free education and scholarship at PU, and I am only trying to pay it back,” Gill said at his announcement made at the university in Chandigarh, India. “The university scholarship changed my life, and, in order to change the lives of students now, I want to help the needy students with this initiative of encouraging poor meritorious students to study pharmacy at UIPS.”
In 1972, Gill immigrated to the United States, working in the pharmaceutical industry until establishing Sun Deep Cosmetics Inc. in 1987.
Sticking to a philosophy of making good products better and constantly raising the bar on natural ingredients, Sun Deep, a private label manufacturer of personal care cosmetics, toiletries and over-the-counter products, has enjoyed continual growth since its inception almost three decades ago.