Jay Sandhu ’87 wanted to honor his father, Chain. So when the opportunity arose to name the garden terrace in Butler’s new Lacy School of Business building for his father, he and his wife, Roop, said yes.
“The reason I am where I am is in no small part due to his hard work and guidance,” said Sandhu, chair of Butler’s Board of Trustees and CEO of NYX, an automotive supplier his father purchased in 1989, which has grown from 30 employees and $2 million in sales to 2,400 employees in four countries and nearly $600 million in sales. “He allowed me to come to Butler even after I said I wasn’t going to be a doctor. He was my boss, mentor, father, and his hard work since the family emigrated from India is reason we live the life we do. He loves gardens, he loves business, so the garden terrace space seemed like a beautiful spot.”
Sandhu, a Biology and Physics major at Butler, got his first look at the new building during a tour in June. He found himself “totally blown away” by what he saw—from the majestic atrium to the serenity of the view from the top-floor garden terrace. He expects the finished product, which is scheduled to open in fall 2019, to be transformative for business education at Butler, and he hopes to inspire others to contribute.
“It’s not so much the number,” he said. “As a trustee and chairman, obviously I’d like the number to be as big as possible, but I think it’s more about having that connection with Butler, supporting Butler, to the extent that feels good. I know supporting Butler in this way has given me more happiness than I can describe. It feels good to support the school that I think so much of.”