Ved Prakash Nanda

Ved Prakash Nanda (November 20, 1934 – January 1, 2024) was an Indian-American academic who received the Padma Bhushan award on 20 March 2018 in the field of literature and education.

Early Life
He was born in 1934 in Gujranwala in undivided India, now in Pakistan. During the patition, he and his family migrated to the Punjab state in India. He obtained an M.A. in Economics from Punjab University, a Law degree from Delhi University,and then an LLM from Northwestern University in USA with postgraduate fellowship work at the Yale University.

Professional Career
Nanda was a professor of International Law at the University of Denver, Colorado, where he served for 50 years. He was Past President of the World Jurist Association and later its Honorary President, honorary Vice President of the American Society of International Law and later its counselor, and a member of the advisory council of the United States Institute of Human Rights. In 2006 Professor Nanda was honored with a $1 million founding gift from DU alumni Doug and Mary Scrivner to launch the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law. The Center began its programming in 2007, hosting programs for the lawyers, students, and community participants as well as promoting scholarship in the field of international law. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Hindu University of America. He was widely published, having authored or co-authored 24 books in various fields of international law. Prof. Ved Nanda also received a number of awards including the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award for Community Peace Building. His writing addressed self-determination, International Law regarded interventions, and environmental policies.

He was the Sanghachalak (President) of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, Chairman of the Board of Hindu University of America and a founder of the Hindu Temple of Denver.

Lagacy
Nanda died on 1 January 2024 following a fall at his home.

He married his wife Katherine Kunz, JD, in 1982, who passed away on August 28, 2023. They are survived by their daughter Anjali and granddaughters, Sena and Gigi.

Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state for President George W. Bush, was a former student of Prof. Nanda. She had kept in touch with him. In the U.S. Congress in 2017, Rep. Mike Coffman commented that his work has inspired a countless number of students to become a part of the conversation on Human Rights and International issues.