SASA Awards

SASA is committed both to advancing South Asian Studies in the academic community and creating a greater understanding of South Asia’s peoples, cultures and opportunities in the wider world. To this end the SASA Board annually recognizes two outstanding individuals or groups who have made important contributions to these goals, one from the academic community and one from the secular world.

2010 Awards


Professor Stanley Wolpert, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, received the 2010 SASA career award for academic excellence.

Navneet Chugh, Managing Partner and Founder of the Chugh Firm, Managing Editor of the India Times, received the 2010 SASA Community Service Award.

2009 Awards


Professor Harold A. Gould, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, received the 2009 SASA Career Award for academic excellence.

Chitra and Anil Deshpande received the 2009 SASA award for support of South Asian Studies. The Desphandes provided the seed money for the University of Central Florida’s India Program, which hosted the 2009 SASA Annual Conference.

2008 Awards


Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, curator emeritus and scholar extraordinaire, has remained one of the most influential forces in the field of Indian art, and its most tireless propagator from the 1960s to the present. SASA is pleased to recognize him as a man of great scholarship, integrity and generosity who has made many outstanding contributions to society.

Neena Bansil is the CEO of the Los Angeles-based State Bank of India (California). The SBI(C) has provided significant support for the promotion of knowledge about, and understanding of, India and its neighbors. SASA recognizes both the impressive accomplishments of Neena Bansil and the very helpful contributions the SBI(C) has made to fostering intellectual exchange among scholars of South Asia.