Dr. and Mrs. Dwivedi Intl. Scholarship

The Legacy of Dr. Dwivedi and Mrs. Dwivedi

Dr. Chandradhar Dwivedi is a retired distinguished professor and Department Head Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Sciences from SDSU. A native of India, Dr. Dwivedi came to the United States in 1973 to pursue his postdoctoral research. He joined SDSU as a faculty member in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences within the College of Pharmacy & Allied Health Professions in 1987. Dr. Dwivedi retired in 2013 after an illustrious 26-year career with State as an outstanding teacher, researcher, and administrator. Along with his professional accomplishments, Dr. Dwivedi exemplified leadership through his selfless service to the international community, on campus and beyond. He was also integral in creating the Indian Student Organization in 1988, which was one of the early international student organizations established at SDSU.

He served as a pillar of support for the Indian community, as well as the international community overall. Dr. Dwivedi's outreach as an ambassador impacted SDSU and extended throughout the state. True to the spirit of their Hindu faith of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (or "the whole world is one family"), Dr. Dwivedi and his wife, Prabha, treated everyone like family. Their kindness provided a sense of community and made Brookings a home away from home for international students. This scholarship is established to honor and celebrate the legacy of Dr. and Mrs. Dwivedi, an exemplary first-generation immigrant couple who strove to make SDSU feel like one family for students who were a world away from their own homes.

Our Mission

We are raising money to provide scholarships to international students at SDSU to defray the cost of travel and tuition. Our main goal is to provide support for international undergraduate students, but we also aspire to build resources for graduate students who do not have assistantships to alleviate their expenses for tuition, travel, and cost of living.

Who We Are 

The Dr. and Mrs. Dwivedi Scholarship fundraising team is spearheaded by a group of committed SDSU faculty and alumni, in partnership with the SDSU Foundation. Many of us have been directly impacted and inspired by Dr. Dwivedi’s selfless service to the international community at SDSU. He served as an unwavering role model through his outstanding professional accomplishments and public service, known for going the extra mile both personally and professionally. Consistent with SDSU’s core value of diversity of community and ideas, the goal of this scholarship is to empower students to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Dwivedi and to enrich diversity and culture at SDSU through international student recruitment.

Our Story

Our passion for giving back to the SDSU community stems from the inspiration of Dr. Dwivedi. In addition to providing moral support, Dr. Dwivedi has financially helped numerous students. Unlike domestic students, there are very limited scholarship opportunities for international students. Furthermore, international students are not eligible for student loans or national scholarships. Our goal is to ease the financial burden so that international students can focus primarily on their studies. We aim to raise $120,000 to establish an endowment that will provide 5-10 annual scholarships of $500-$1,000 to assist with some of the living, tuition, and travel costs for international undergraduate and graduate students.

Our Goal

We need your help to establish the Dr. and Mrs. Dwivedi International Students Scholarship Endowment! Together, we can make a real difference for international students, who will then go on to make a difference in diverse communities across the state of South Dakota, in our nation, and around the world. Just as Dr. Dwivedi built a community for international Jackrabbits, we can build a community of support to achieve our goal.

If you prefer to make check donations, checks can be made out to the SDSU Foundation and can either be dropped off/mailed to the SDSU Foundation:

SDSU Foundation

Lohr Building

815 Medary Ave /Box 525

Brookings, SD 57007