The NDSU campus community celebrated the life of Sudhir Mehta, associate vice president for academic affairs – international, during a remembrance event Sept. 1. Mehta died unexpectedly on Aug. 8 in Mumbai, India, at the age of 59.
About 100 administrators, faculty and students attended the event in the Century Theater.
“Sudhir was a wonderful role model,” said Edward Deckard, professor of plant sciences, who led the remembrance event. “He strongly believed in one colleague helping another, especially when it came to teaching and learning. He leaves a strong and significant legacy.”
Mehta joined the NDSU mechanical engineering faculty in 1984, and was named associate vice president in 2002. In recent years, he worked extensively with exchange programs between NDSU and India, including agreements with Ansal Institute of Technology in Gurgaon, India, and the International Institute of Information Technology in Pune, India.
In addition, Mehta was a leading advocate for advancing teaching and learning.
Craig Schnell, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said, “He was a unique and innovative person, a problem solver. He kept us in the forefront of teaching methodologies, and he made such a difference.”
Schnell praised Mehta’s active participation in numerous new teaching techniques, including Problem Based Learning, online learning, Web-based assessment, the Personal Response System and NDSU’s pedagogical luncheon program. “Sudhir will be missed and not forgotten,” Schnell said.
Evie Myers, vice president for equity, diversity and global outreach, described Mehta as a passionate man, who was dedicated to NDSU, his family, students and the university’s collaborations around the world. She said Mehta built connections in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and the Middle East. She also said her office is establishing the Sudhir Mehta Study Abroad Scholarship for a student to study in India.
Fellow faculty members remembered his friendly, caring nature and the impact he had on NDSU.
Alan Kallmeyer, professor and chair of mechanical engineering, said, “He was a great colleague, mentor and friend. He was a small man with a large heart.”
Gene Berry, associate professor of veterinary and microbiological sciences, said, “Sudhir was an incredibly warm human being. His smile was always there, and it was genuine.”
Mehta earned his bachelor’s degree at IIT, his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at State University of New York at Buffalo and his doctorate in mechanical engineering from IIT.
He received numerous honors at NDSU, including 2002 Blue Key Distinguished Educator, 2002 Faculty Lectureship Award, 2000 Peltier Award for Innovative Teaching and Apple Polisher Award in 2001 and 2003. He also received the Hewlett Packard Award for Excellence in Lab Instruction and was named the Carnegie Foundation North Dakota Professor of the Year in 1997.
He is survived by his wife, Manju, and his son, Yogin.
