Sudha Murty Biography: Birth, Age, Family, Education, Career, Awards, Books, Philanthropy and More

Sudha Murty (née Kulkarni) is an Indian engineering teacher who excels as an author in Kannada, Marathi and English language. She is mainly known for her philanthropic work. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and is the wife of the co-founder of Infosys, N.R. Narayana Murthy. Today, the philanthropist turns 70. Penguin announces her next book on this occasion-- Grandparents’ Bag of Stories. 

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Sudha Murty: Birth, Family, Early Life and Education

Sudha Murty was born on August 19, 1950, in Shiggaon, Haveri in Karnataka, India, to
Dr R. H. Kulkarni and Vimala Kulkarni. She belongs to Deshastha Madhwa Brahmin family. She is graduate in  Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology (presently known as KLE Technological University). She completed her post-graduation in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Science. She received a gold medal from the then Chief Minister of Karnataka. 

Sudha Murty: Career

Sudha Murty wrote a postcard to the then Chairman of TELCO and complained about the gender bias in the company. After this, she was interviewed and was hired immediately, becoming the first female engineer hired at India's largest auto manufacturer TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO). She was posted first posted in Pune as a  Development Engineer and was later posted in Mumbai and Jamshedpur. She also worked with Walchand group of Industries at Pune as Senior Systems Analyst. 

In the year 1996, she established the Infosys Foundation and is currently the Chairperson of the organization. She is also a visiting Professor at Bangalore University. She was also a professor at Christ University.

Infosys foundation inaugurated two institutions-- H.R. Kadim Diwan Building, at IIT Kanpur and the Narayan Rao Melgiri Memorial National Law Library at NLSIU. 

Sudha Murty: Awards

1- Gold Medal from the Indian Institute of Engineers, India for having secured the 1st Rank in MTech of all the branches of Engineering. 

2- Gold Medal from the Chief Minister of Karnataka Sri Devaraj Urs, for securing the highest marks in B.E. of all the Universities of Engineering in Karnataka. 

3- Cash award for having secured the highest marks in SSLC.

4- C S Desai Prize for standing first in University Exams of Karnataka. 

5- Youth Service Department Prize from Government of Karnataka, for having been the outstanding engineering student of Karnataka. 

6- In 1995, Best Teacher Award in 1995 from the Rotary Club of KARNATAKA. 

7- National Award from Public Relation Society of India for outstanding Social Service to the Society. 

8- 'Attimabbe' award for her technical book in Kannada (Shaale Makkaligagi Computer _ meaning computers for school children). 

9- Award for Excellent Social Service by Rotary South – Hubli. 

10- In 2000, 'Karnataka Rajyotsava' State Award for the year 2000, for achievement in the field of literature and social work. 

11- In 2001, 'Ojaswini' award for excellent social work for the year 2000.

12- 'Millenium Mahila Shiromani' award. 

13- In 2004, Raja-Lakshmi Award by Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in Chennai. 

14- In 2006, She also received the R.K. Narayana's Award for Literature.

15- In 2011, Murthy was conferred honorary LL.D (Doctor of Laws) degrees for their contributions to promote formal legal education and scholarship in India.

16- In 2013, Basava Shree-2013 Award was presented to Narayan Murthy & Sudha Murty for their contributions to society at Basaveshwara Medical College auditorium. Basava Shree award comprises a plaque and a cheque of `5 lakh, Sudha Murty handed over award money to an orphanage run by the mutt.

17- In 2018, Murthy received the Life Time Achievement Award at the Crossword-Raymond Book Awards.

18- In 2019, Sudha Murty received "Hemmeya-Kannadiga" award from television.
2019: IIT Kanpur awarded her Honorary Degree (Honoris Causa) of Doctor of Science.

19- She won India's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri.

Sudha Murty: Personal Life 

Sudha Murty married N.R. Narayana Murthy while she was employed as an engineer at TELCO in Pune. The couple has two children-- Akshata (daughter) and Rohan (son). Akshata married Rishi Sunak., her classmate from Stanford and the former Finance Minister of the UK.

After Liz truss resigned 7 weeks and became the shortest-reigning Prime Minister of the  UK, Rishi Sunak took the reigns into his hands and made history by becoming the first Indian-origin Prime Minster of the UK in October 2022. 

Sudha Murthy, on her son-in-law becoming the UK's Prime Minister, said that she's happy with Sunak's success and wished him all the best. 

J.R.D. Tata told Sudha Murty to remember that no one was the owner of the money. You are the only trustee of money and it always changes hands. When you are successful, give it back to the society that gave you so much goodwill. 

Sudha Murty: Social Activity

In 1996, Sudha Murty founded a Public Charitable Trust. The trust has so far built 2,300 houses in the flood-affected areas. She also has a vision of a library for each school and has so far set up 70,000 libraries. Her organization has so far built 16,000 public toilets. 

Sudha Murty: Books 

Sudha Murty has so far published many books, mainly through Penguin. These are as follows: 

Books in the Kannada language

1. Dollar Sose
2. Runa
3. Kaveri inda Mekaangige
4. Hakkiya Teradalli
5. Athirikthe
6. Guttondu Heluve
7. Mahashweta
8. Tumla
9. Nooniya Sahasagalu
10. Samanyralli Asamanyaru
11. Compuer lokadalli
12. Paridhi
13. Yashasvi
14. Guttondu Heluve
15. Astitva
16. Yerilitada Daariyalli
17. Sukhesini Mattu Itara Makkala Kathegalu

Books in the English language

1. The Mother I Never Knew
2. Three Thousand Stitches
3. The Man from the Egg
4. Here, There, Everywhere
5. Magic of the Lost Temple
6. How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and other stories
7. The Old Man And His God
8. Dollar Bahu
9. Wise and Otherwise
10. Mahashweta
11. The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk
12. The Serpent's Revenge
13. Gently Falls The Bakula
14. House of Cards
15. Something Happened on the Way To Heavens
16. The Magic Drum and other favorite stories
17. The Bird with the Golden Wings
18. How The Sea Became Salty
19. The Upside Down King
20. The Daughter From A Wishing Tree
21. Grandma's Bag of Stories

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