Indian-American philanthropist Anil Kochhar announced during the graduation ceremony of the North Carolina State University Wilson College of Textiles on May 8 that he and his wife Marilyn would cover the final-year education loans of 176 graduates from the 2025-26 academic year.
The announcement was made while Kochhar addressed graduates during the commencement ceremony. According to Kochhar, the initiative was introduced in honour of his father, Prakash Chand Kochhar.
“It is my privilege to announce today that, in honor of my father Prakash Chand Kochhar, Marilyn and I are providing a graduation gift to cover all the final-year education loans incurred by Wilson College graduates during the 2025–26 academic year,” Kochhar said during the ceremony.
The announcement drew loud cheers from graduates attending the event.
Kochhar said he hoped the students would leave with “greater freedom” to pursue their goals without financial concerns limiting their choices.
Tribute to father’s journey from India
During his speech, Kochhar reflected on his father’s journey from India to the United States. He said Prakash Chand Kochhar arrived in Raleigh nearly 80 years ago with “hope and determination” and could not have imagined the future opportunities his move would create.
Kochhar said the graduating students represented “a new generation” connected by the same spirit of possibility that had brought his father to the university decades earlier.
Who was Prakash Chand Kochhar?
Prakash Chand Kochhar was born in Punjab, India, and became the second Indian student to enrol at the Wilson College of Textiles in 1946. He earned a bachelor’s degree in textile manufacturing in 1950 and a master’s degree in the same field in 1952.
His career in textile engineering later took him across several states in the US and to different countries around the world. According to the university, his experiences helped shape a legacy focused on education, opportunity and community support.
Following his death in 1985, his wife Christine Hayes Kochhar established the Prakash Chand Kochhar Memorial Textile Scholarship for the university the following year.
Family expands support for university
Anil Kochhar and his wife Marilyn later continued the family’s association with the institution by creating three additional endowments.
These include the Prakash Chand Kochhar Dean’s Chair Endowment, aimed at supporting the dean and broader college resources, the Prakash Chand Kochhar Endowed Faculty Fund for faculty-related activities and recruitment, and the Prakash Chand Kochhar Graduate Support Endowment for graduate student research, travel and conference participation.
The college stated after the commencement ceremony that it was calculating the total value of the latest gift and working with campus offices on related details.
Earlier in March, the university had also announced a major investment by Anil Kochhar in support of the college’s leadership, faculty and graduate students.
