Sudha Murty

Sudha Murty is an author and philanthropist who chairs the Murty Foundation. She was named for the Padma Bhushan in 2023 in the field of social work, from Karnataka ^[1]. She had received the Padma Shri in 2006 ^[2].

Engineer and teacher

Murty was born on 19 August 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka ^[2]. She took a degree in electrical and electronics engineering from B. V. B. College of Engineering and Technology, Hubli, in 1972, and a master’s in computer science from the Indian Institute of Science in 1974 ^[2]. She was the first woman engineer hired by TELCO, now Tata Motors, and also worked as a teacher ^[2].

Philanthropy

She set up the Infosys Foundation and chaired it for 25 years, and now chairs the Murty Foundation, which works on Indian culture, science and knowledge traditions ^[2]. Her projects have covered health care, education, art and culture, animal welfare, women’s welfare and sanitation ^[2]. Her work with the devadasi community helped about 3,000 women build independent livelihoods ^[2]. Her relief work has reached the victims of 16 natural disasters, and in Karnataka she has set up more than 70,000 libraries; she has also paid for 15,000 toilets ^[2].

Writer

She writes mainly in English and Kannada, from children’s books and short stories to novels, technical books and travelogues ^[2]. Translations exist in every major Indian language, and more than 30 lakh copies have been sold in India; as of December 2022 she had 248 titles to her name ^[2]. She has received the Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 2000, the Attimabbe award for Kannada literature in 2012 and the R. K. Narayan Award for Literature in 2006 ^[2].