A faculty member in the Naveen Jindal School of Management recently received a flurry of awards recognizing him for his service to the school and the community.
Gaurav Shekhar, assistant dean for graduate programs at the Jindal School, was recognized with awards from three organizations — the Dallas Business Journal (DBJ), Toastmasters International and Women Leading Technology.
The DBJ selected Shekhar as one of its 40 Under 40 honorees for 2023. Recipients are business professionals under the age of 40 who were selected by senior newsroom staff from hundreds of nominations. Sunil Maini, chairperson of the board for the U.S. India Chamber of Commerce and an alumnus of JSOM, nominated Shekhar.
“The U.S. India Chamber of Commerce DFW is extremely lucky to have Gaurav as a board member and co-chair of the Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs and Professionals (YEP) program,” Maini said. “He has been instrumental in leading and planning events for YEP and connecting the Chamber with young professionals in DFW. He is a pillar in the North Texas Indian-American and higher education community.”
The 40 Under 40 honorees will be recognized at an event July 20 at The Hall on Dragon in Dallas. They also will be featured in the DBJ’s digital and print publication July 28.
District 50 of Toastmasters International presented Shekhar an award in appreciation of his work on behalf of the longtime partnership between the group and the Jindal School. The first Toastmasters Club was established at The University of Texas at Dallas in 2007 and the first club at JSOM was started in 2010. Currently, there are two clubs on campus, JSOM Friday Toastmasters and University Toastmasters of Dallas.
Shekhar, an assistant professor of instruction who is also the director of the MS Business Analytics Flex and Online programs at the Jindal School, has been a member of Toastmasters for six years and is a past director of District 50.
“As a district leader, he has executed his passion for the success of the district’s members for many years,” said Manny Garcia, District 50 Toastmasters’ DSO program quality director. “In 2020, upon the dawn of COVID-19, he embraced the district and all its members in order to continue pursuing their goals, and kept the district’s events ongoing in a new virtual world concept. He is an outstanding member of the UT Dallas/JSOM faculty who acted (to provide) UTD facilities for District 50’s many key events.”
Shekhar also received the Men Supporting Women in Tech 2023 award from Women Leading Technology. Founder and CEO Kelly Flowers described him as a futuristic thinker who puts action behind his words.
“Women are underrepresented not only in the technology industry but as a whole in many industries,” Flowers said. “Although we have made great strides in our mission to empower women, we still need strong men advocates that understand our daily struggle. Gaurav doesn’t just talk about change, he is change. He is a huge advocate for empowering women. He does everything possible to make sure we, as women, are represented on many levels.”
The Women Leading Technology Sorority will hold an architecture camp at JSOM for girls in pre-K through high school in July that Shekhar is sponsoring.
“Awards are nice and you never think you will receive them, but these are really for the university,” Shekhar said. “They are representative of the impact the school is making in the community. We are ambassadors of the university. I came here as a student and was recently named as an assistant dean. To this date, coming to the Jindal School was the best decision of my life. I found my calling here.”
