The University of Kentucky has announced a $1 million gift from Melappalayam S. and Sowmya Vijayaraghavan to establish the President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam India Studies Endowment Fund.

The gift will help fund endowed professorships for the proposed Center of Excellence for India Studies and research support in India Business Studies through the Gatton College of Business and Economics. Named for the former president of India, who recently visited the university, the fund will work to raise additional private funding for the center.

Plans call for the center to utilize endowed professorships in areas such as business, language, religion, health care, agriculture, politics, and culture to promote the cross-fertilization of ideas and enhance academic, economic, and cultural relations between India and Kentucky. Other objectives include the development of exchange programs for students, expanding investment opportunities for Kentucky-based businesses, and promoting a better understanding of India in the United States.

"The receipt of this gift is the next major step in allowing our curriculum to become truly international and helps to reinforce our 'world-ready' theme at the Gatton College," said Gatton College dean Devanathan Sudharshan. "This gift is enabling us to create a regional studies program revolving around one of the largest democracies and growing economic superpowers in the world."