Lord Swraj Paul donates $5m to MIT and says the institute ‘changed his life’

UK-based Indian-origin entrepreneur Lord Swraj Paul has donated $5 million through his family's Ambika Paul Foundation to his alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Kresge Auditorium, a landmark that serves as a venue for community and cultural activities at the university.

Following this, the large hall in the auditorium will be named as the Lord Swraj Paul PC ’52 and Angad Paul ’92 Theatre and will be more generally known as the Swraj Paul Theatre.

Lord Paul studied mechanical engineering at MIT and later went on to found the Caparo Group that straddles various sectors, including value-added steel products. His sons, Akash Paul and the late Angad Paul, also studied at MIT in the 1970s and 80s.

“I first came to MIT from India in 1949 at a time when there were very few Indian students in the US, and the experience changed my life," said Lord Paul.

“Because of my time at MIT, I decided to expand my Caparo companies into the US, and for more than 30 years, we have made significant investments across the country in our Bull Moose Tube and XL Trailers businesses”.

Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, the Kresge auditorium is architecturally significant as a leading example of a minimalist thin-shell concrete structure. Opened in 1955, it played an important role in the life of the MIT community and was renovated in 2016.

The auditorium serves as a venue for a variety of community activities including MIT events and symposiums and student performances, and Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and New England Philharmonic performances.

The Ambika Paul Foundation was established in 1978 in memory of Lord Paul’s daughter, Ambika, who died of leukaemia in 1968 aged 4. It was for her medical treatment that Paul first came to Britain in 1966, where he remained and went on to create Caparo, a diversified global association of businesses with interests predominantly in the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of value-added steel and niche engineering products.

The Foundation promotes the well-being of children and young people all over the world through education, culture and health, and seeks to encourage and inspire them to learn about the world they live in.