Dr. Chandra Paul Singh. (Photo provided)

A generous gift from the estate of Dr. Chandra Paul Singh will support Cornell University student internships with the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) in India.

Run in partnership with the Global Fellows Program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, TCI’s internship program sends deserving undergraduate students to India each summer. Student interns spend eight weeks working on applied, development-related research projects alongside TCI researchers, graduate students, or partner organizations.

Interns receive a stipend to cover the costs of their internship experience, including airfare and housing. The Dr. Chandra Paul Singh Fellowship will support one intern each summer for a total of three years.

“Our internship program gives students an excellent opportunity to participate in field-based research at the cutting edge of development in India,” TCI Director Prabhu Pingali said. “We are immensely thankful for this gift from the estate of Dr. Chandra Paul Singh, which will allow us to provide even more opportunities to Cornell students.”

Born Chandra Pal Singh Tomar in Meerut, India, Singh was the first Indian-born physician in British Columbia, Canada. He obtained his medical degree in Lucknow, India, and did post-graduate training in Liverpool, London, Boston, Calgary, and Montreal. In addition to running a successful urological practice in Victoria, British Columbia, for close to 40 years, Singh was also a golfer, sailor, pilot, businessman, and world traveler.

Singh’s passion for his home country was demonstrated by his support of the Victoria Hindu Temple, where he was the president for two years, as well as his establishment of the Chandra Pal India Trust to improve sanitation and facilitate access to clean drinking water in rural India, and his sponsorship of two schools in rural India.