Industrialist and philanthropist Ratan N. Tata '59, B.Arch. '62 dies at age 86

Ratan N. Tata '59, B. Arch. '62, one of India's most influential and respected business leaders and philanthropists and a former Cornell trustee who became the university's largest international donor – supporting scholarships, research to reduce rural poverty and malnutrition in India and technological innovations – died on October 9, Mumbai. He was 86.

Tata was chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Groupa multinational conglomerate with interests ranging from steel, cars and infrastructure to financial and digital services, consumer brands and hospitality. The company expanded its global reach and grew significantly under Tata's leadership from 1991 to 2012. After his retirement, Tata achieved sales of over $100 billion while being recognized for his focus on public good. From 2012 until his death, Tata was chairman of the Tata TrustsIndia's largest private sector charity and owner of a 66% stake in the Tata Group as well as its own venture capital firm.

In 2008, a gift of $50 million from the Tata Trusts created the Tata Cornell Institute of Agriculture and Fooda long-term research initiative, and endowed the Tata scholarship for students from India. In 2017, a $50 million investment from Tata Consultancy Services helped with construction Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus in New York City.

“Ratan Tata has left an extraordinary legacy in India, around the world and at Cornell that he cares deeply about,” said Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff. “Ratan’s calm demeanor and modesty belied his international profile. His generosity and concern for others enabled research and scholarship that improved the education and health of millions of people in India and beyond and expanded Cornell’s global impact.”

Tata was born into a prominent industrial family in 1937 and made his own way through Ithaca. With the encouragement of close family friends in the United States, he enrolled at Cornell University. Upon his arrival as a member of the class of 1959, planning to study mechanical engineering at Tata after two years, he decided to study architecture instead.

Although he did not pursue a career as an architect – he was recalled to the family business and started as an apprentice in a workshop at Tata Steel – Tata served on the jury of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, one of the field's top honors, from 2014 to 2019. He credited his architectural education at Cornell for some of his business successes, including learning to approach problems creatively and from multiple perspectives.

“The miles of tracing paper we all wasted on one concept after another did one thing: They taught us not to stick to one thing,” Tata said in a documentary to classmates for his 50th class reunion of the year produced in 2009. “We tried and we tried, we improved and we reconsidered what we needed to do. It’s no different in business.”

“When Ratan Tata graduated from Cornell University with a degree in architecture, it was impossible to imagine the global impact his visionary leadership, philanthropy and commitment to humanity would later have – advancing education and research in many areas,” said J. Meejin Yoon, Dean of Gale and Ira Drukier of AAP. “As I look back on Ratan's life and career, I am not only grateful for all he gave and achieved, but also with deep respect for his kindness, generosity and eternal optimism that shaped life in India and around the world has improved.”

Tata's engineering and design background was instrumental in Tata Motors' 2008 launch of the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest production car at the time, which aimed to improve safety for lower-income riders confined to motorcycles and scooters .

In the reunion documentary, Tata discussed his dislike of Ithaca winters, his appreciation for his fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi, and his love of flying, a hobby he pursued as a student. (With several classmates on board, he once safely made an emergency landing at what is now Ithaca Tompkins International Airport after a prop failed on the single-engine Tri-Pacer he was piloting.) He also discussed some of the challenges international students face were: at a time when few came from India – numbers that his 2008 gift would increase. This academic year, 305 Tata Scholarships were awarded to 89 students from India, with a particular focus on supporting students from non-feeder schools, helping to attract talented applicants and raise the university's profile there .

Meanwhile, the Tata Cornell Institute of Agriculture and Food continues to develop and evaluate innovative food systems-based approaches to reducing poverty and improving nutrition and livelihoods in developing countries, with a particular focus on India. Multidisciplinary teams operate in Ithaca, Mumbai and New Delhi with expertise ranging from economic and development sociology to international nutrition and food science.

These initiatives followed then-President David Skorton's visit to India in 2007 with a Cornell delegation to learn about the country's growing influence and promote closer ties. Tata helped facilitate the delegation's meeting with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior officials from government, business and education.

At Cornell Tech, the Tata Innovation Center provides space for education, research and interaction with industry partners. The building also provides space for Cornell Tech students and graduates to develop and commercialize new ideas, technologies and products, as well as create start-ups.

“What we see here today is not just the naming of a building, not just a new campus, but a very bold statement,” Tata said at the building’s inauguration in 2017.

In addition to three terms as a trustee, from 2006 to 2022, Tata was named Cornell's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013 and served on the AAP Advisory Board beginning in 2014. Among many international awards, Tata received two of the Indian government's highest civilian awards; was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering as a foreign associate in 2013; and received a philanthropic lifetime achievement award from the Rockefeller Foundation in 2012 for “the thoughtful integration of the public good into the Tata Group’s business model.” In 2007, the Tata family was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and Barron's magazine named Tata one of the 30 most respected CEOs in the world.

Tata, who never married or had children, treasured his years in Ithaca and returned regularly to trustee meetings and gatherings.

“It gave me a sense of accomplishment when I graduated from Cornell,” Tata said in 2009. “Those years at Cornell were probably the best investment one could have made in that time.”