Faculty, staff, students, and invited guests filled Milstein Hall Auditorium on April 16 for the presentation of the inaugural Ratan N. Tata Distinguished Alumni Award, which was established by Cornell's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and named in Tata's ('59, B.Arch. '62) honor prior to his passing in 2024. Also its first recipient, the award celebrates Tata's global influence and lifelong philanthropic commitment to initiatives spanning education, research, health, and the built environment. Going forward, it will recognize AAP alumni who similarly use their Cornell education to foster positive change in the world.

"There are few individuals whose lives and impact can truly be called transformative. Ratan Tata was one," Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff shared during the award ceremony, highlighting Tata's extensive philanthropic work in India and around the globe, including at Cornell through his support of research, technology, and scholarship. Tata was the university's largest international donor, as well as a Cornell trustee and AAP's longest-serving Advisory Council member.

"Like Ezra Cornell," Kotlikoff continued, "he saw education as the best possible investment to do the greatest good. Over the course of decades, Ratan Tata invested over and over for the greatest good, applying his businessman's mind and his philanthropist's heart to the world's pressing needs."

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